Zidane, to my untrained eye, was the only one who got things going for France. Every one of their goal-scoring opprotunities included Zidane in them. He was France's only spark on the field.

Anyways, Brazil is going to play soon...can't wait.

 

Zidane has been brilliant for France, but EVERYTHING goes through him now, which slows the pace down. It's not like they don't have other world class players. He should have gone off after an hour (at the latest) but the manager wouldn't/couldn't/daren't do it.

IMO he has far too much influence over the team and the management for it to be healthy for team morale.

 

If any of you are having difficulty watching the matches, try the BBC's world service. Also if you can get it radio Five Live are covering all the matches.

Litha

 

Brazil dissapointed me, I expected more from them. Both Adriano and Ronaldo sucked and Ronaldinho was barely average. Croatia, on the other hand, played a great game. It's only through tough luck that they received goal in the end.

Dunno, if Brazil doesn't improve in the second half, I'm cheering for Croats...

 

Yeah, Brazil is lame. They should take Ronaldo off.

 

Brazil leave me cold.

Don't know why, probably because of the semi-patronising hype surrounding them and their fans. I wish the media would climb back out of the their collective sphincter, it's embarrassing.

 

The match is kinda boring anyways. The Kaka goal was sweet, but the rest are lazy, maybe excluding Ronaldinho. Ronaldo...I expected more from you, you lazy fat bitch. God, if this was any other team Croatia would destroy them.

 

I definetly would have wished the Croats a goal. Kaka's goal (hewas pretty much the best player from Brazil) was bad for the game imo, since I think we'd have seen more from Brazil if they weren't in the lead. The Croats played a very good game.

And don't talk to me about Ronaldo. That fat tank nearly didn't move at all. Brazil got much better in the offense when he got off and Robinho moved about.

 

Brazil were alright, just not their usual selves. It just be that the manager told them to play it cool and get an efficient victory. If so, they've done that. Three points on the table and I have no doubt they'll improve for next round. Ronaldo shouldn't play again, it's his name that's keeping him on the teamsheet.

 

If Kaka didn't score IMO Brazil would have lost. Croatia had far more momentum, they just lost morale when Brazil scored.

 

Tough luck for Croats, they played surprisingly well.

Yes, Brazil sucked ass, but that was maybe even expected. For their kind of playing style (short-passes, lots of flair and nice moves), it takes lots of pracitice to make it work. I expect them to get better and better with each game, until they become unstopable somewhere near semi-finals... that is, as long as they kick out Ronaldo from the first team. The only way that fuck could be useful is by donating his fat for lubricant on Ronaldinho's shoes...

 

In Ronaldo's defence he recieved no service at all. Not one cross or through ball. Admittedly he wasn't full of running, but if you give the guy a chance near goal he'll still score.

Great support from the croat fans though, not a belly dancer, feathered injun or a clown in sight. Stole the show from the Brazilians tonight.

 

Well, maybe if he’d spend more time on fitness trainings instead of all-you-can-eat buffets, he'd realize that in football, it's not enough to sit on your fat ass and wait to get served.

 

Being a striker/forward means more than just standing around in fron of the goal, waiting for the ball to bump against your foot into the goal. Did you not notice how much better the Braziliian offense was when Robinho came? They had someone they could play football with, instead of something unmoving, vaguely humanoid. A player does an average of 12 kilometers in 90 minutes. Ronaldo made maybe 2 in 60. I have never seen him move faster than a light trot.

 

In all honesty, he DID run rather fast when he was leaving the pitch

 

He isn't about just running like a headless chicken. Neither was Pele if you watch the vids of him. A great striker needs service, and he received none tonight.

Admittedly the corner flag covered more ground than him, but I wouldn't write him off just yet.

 

I just believe he needs a warm-up. Give him a while and he'll be scoring goals left and right. There's a reason he's a legend y'know.

 

Personally I thought the game was awesome. The Croatians put up an awesome fight. As for Ronaldo yeah he played horribly but, I think he might be injured. You don’t come to the world cup and not play your hardest even if you are Ronaldo.

 

We have a starting 11 that have world class players in every position (except the manager) The press get on Englands back because, whilst we have second strongest team behind Brazil, we play like we are scared of not so good teams, we are the most negative team in international football. We are the only team that defends a 1-0 lead against every team, regardless of whether we score after 2 mins or 85. I can understand the media ripping England because since Sven has been in charge, England have not actually put in a good performance. Even that 5-1 germany match. If you go back and watch it, England were terrible, only Germany were worse.

 

What actually happened to Ronaldo? I remember 2002 he was just amazing...no other way to put it. Did he just let himself go, or was he injured, or what?

Anyways, the Croats put up an inspiring performance, and had a couple of goals been scored, I think that the Brazilians would have played a much more stellar game, rather than the lackluster effort that they gave.