Alexander Hawkins

Is it me, or is the 2nd round getting worse with each game? I don't want to re-ignite the discussion of a couple of pages back, but I have to say, I found the Holland - Portugal game utterly compelling viewing...Granted not for the usual reasons that people find football matches compelling, but all the same... I thought the Argentina - Mexico wasn't far off a classic. England I agree were abysmally dull (plus ca change). Likewise this evening's 'entertainment'. France v Spain I expect to be good; and Brazil v Ghana could be fantastic if the Ghanaians start well.

Yeah, I'll take Italy in this match...heaven forbid what will happen to the Ukraine if they were to face e.g. Argentina/Brazil in the semis...that just wouldn't be fair... I don't know the Ukrainians well enough to comment, but Leonardo, Lawrenson and Shearer in the BBC studio were confident the Ukrainians would play a markedly different game against the Italians. The Swiss didn't exactly invite exciting play... BTW - with 3 minutes until penalties, what a completely bizarre decision to bring off Frei.

This nails it for my money. Soft, soft penalty, but possibly not incorrectly given. In any case, 'I've seen them given', as they say.

Ah...first sending off of the afternoon . Materazzi, far too harshly, IMHO.

Hi Jim - thanks for the advice. Basically, I'm keen to get a simple mobile setup, so the space itself will vary (although I do have access, luckily, to a couple of very nice sounding rooms whenever I need them)...most of my work is with a piano trio + a horn, but I can see a situation where I might want to get a vocalist... Because budget it tight (as ever!), I was looking at a Tascam DP01-FX. However, it's only got provision for two tracks simultaneous recording, so then I started looking for the next model up with a few more simultaneous tracks. The Tascam 2488 offers 8...I figured that although the sound I like is just the stereo pair, situations might arise (recording other people, unusual instruments/combinations of instruments) where two simultaneous would just not be enough. As far as the microphones are concerned, thanks for those tips...AKG and RODE were the two names mentioned to me before, but I'll check out those MXLs. Essentially, I want an affordable (but as good quality as possible) setup where I can record my gigs, and begin to learn a bit about recording...

Joseph Desire Job Job Nehemiah

Agree with your assessment. Potentially a great game, although I suspect the Italians will simply have too much for the Aussies (it looks like Kewell's out as well - we just saw him on TV arriving at the ground on crutches).

Just been announced that Totti is not starting for Italy this afternoon - Del Piero instead. I wonder how this will go down in Italy?

Damn Clark Terry is good (just listening to Festival Session)!

If you're recording with just a stereo pair, can you capture vocals satisfactorily, or is it better to have a separate vocal mike?

Talking about a diving expert... Yeah...I *think* he's getting better for us, but he's been guilty of some horrors, and it's simply embarrassing when it happens with one of your own players. Apparently, one of his justifications for jumping around is that having broken his foot 3 times, he's eager to protect himself...

I'm not defending the Dutch here - I hate diving as much as you do - but they're not the only ones who are guilty. There's a lot of diving in this tournament, and I think it's not fair to single out the Dutch. I think Ruud Gullit clouded Red's vision a bit here. The thing is, the Dutch hate diving. Even more when it's their own team doing it. So Gullit got upset and all ITV viewers with him. In the game I saw, the Portugese were much more eager to act than the Dutch. Which is not to say that the Dutch diving upset me more. Well, I never cared much for Ruud Gullit's "analyses" anyway On Dutch TV his rambling goes on and on and on and on... Ruud is prone to cloud my vision...after what he did here at Chelsea, I'll forgive him anything I think I'm not putting myself across well here - I think I'm sounding too vehement. I think we're reading off the same page - I know you guys hate diving (don't all true fans, after all?), and it must be hugely frustrating to see your side do it! Same as I get pissed of with the English attitude despite the fact they are my 'home' team. No offence meant at any stage . Maybe we'll just have to agree to disagree about who was more culpable last night ! Anyway, I think there's little danger of Portugal going on to win the thing... How about thoughts for today's games? I'll have Italy and Switzerland, although I agree that both could go the other way (I don't really know enough about the Ukrainians to call their game with any accuracy anyway).

I think it's a stretch to say the ref owed the Portugese any favours...remember, they went down to 10, then 9, first, and received more yellows than the Dutch. yes, that was AFTER the house caught fire. I think if the ref had handled the situation better and acted upon all the little shite the Portugese were pulling to "get back" for the foul on Ronaldo, then he might have kept things under control. The first two cards went to the Dutch within the first ten minutes. It took ten more minutes for the Portugese to receive their first yellow. Those 10 minutes were crucial, setting the atmosphere as the ref didn't have his eyes in the right place, gave too many silly free kicks to the Portugese and close to none to the Dutch. He *was* making up for his decision on the foul on Ronaldo, who kept limping to and fro, reminding everyone what bad guys these Dutch were. Once people knew this ref could be fooled, they continued their crap. As for the Dutch diving, Robben should have acted some better when they kicked him in the shoulder. Just like Figo went for an academy award with a Dutch elbow in supporting role. Oscar for special effects. There certainly are some bad actors in the Dutch team, but they cannot hold a candle to the Italians (who must have invented it; do they have schools where you can learn this stuff?) or the Portugese for that matter. So instead of "Dutch diving", you'd better refer to "feghing diving" in general. I accept that all teams do it to a greater or lesser extent. I just feel that the current Dutch team have a particularly pronounced tendency to fall over. That's certainly how I saw last night's game, and, as I say, Ruud saw it the same way. BTW - fair enough about the sequence of the cards - I'd forgotten that. I have to say though, I felt that the referee was indiscriminately bad, rather than biased and bad! Interestingly - I don't know where I stand on this: we're all used to seeing games go both ways, after all! - the commentators over here felt that it was the referee's early strictness which CAUSED the problems. They reckoned that the players spotted he was card happy, and then tried to exploit this to get opponents sent off. I'm not entirely sure about this 'little shite' the Portugese were pulling...As far as I can see, niggling play is almost as much a hallmark of many Dutch sides as beautiful football. I saw a video of the Neeskens (sp.?)/Cruyff side the other day (have to admit, I'm too young to have seen then live), and they seemed to have a similar attitude problem... I have to stress, I don't want to come over anti-Dutch. The Gullit-Van Basten-Rijkaard side was one of the greatest I've been lucky enough to see. I love a lot about Dutch football. However, I am very much anti this current Dutch side (and I should cut them some slack, with Robben being a Chelsea man).

Johnny "Rabbit" Hodges Major "Mule" Holley Al "Dr. Horse" Pittman Cow Cow Davenport Speckled Red Dirty Den

I think it's a stretch to say the ref owed the Portugese any favours...remember, they went down to 10, then 9, first, and received more yellows than the Dutch. Van Persie has a serious attitude problem. Thank goodness Bergkamp wasn't on the pitch with his pernicious 'sweetness and light' act. p.s. I agree, Figo was completely out of order. My ranting against the Dutch is in no way to defend much of the Portugese conduct!

That's cool to hear! How was the atmosphere for the Croatia game - isn't there a large Croatian population in Melbourne and Sydney? FWIW, I thought Kuyt got in some good positions. Don't know how he stacks up against Van Nistelrooy... The violence is one thing. Both sides were equally reprehensible in this respect. It's the Dutch diving that I cannot stand. I would like Portugal to beat England. Portugal have more beautiful football in them. It was stifled last night (obviously!), but this English side is so dull as to be untrue (Liverpool under Houllier, anyone?).

What an extraordinary game. I am not at all sorry the Dutch are out, but the Portugese were hardly spotless.

This Holland v Portugal game is getting tasty. FWIW, I have rarely seen a team so content to try to cheat their way to success as these Dutch. Sneeze near a lot of them and they'd fall over. The *GREAT* Ruud Gullit is in the ITV studio, and is rightly ashamed of them.

It's FMR, not FMP. Yeah - sorry - bang to rights!

Well, obviously you've seen far more Italian football than I have... I'm still pretty amazed that you should mention Totti in the same breath as Baggio, let along the other great 10s. On which subject, a book about the great number 10s was reveiewed very favourably in the paper the other day. The most shocking inclusion? Dennis Bergkamp. Search me as to why (bear in mind he beat people like Zico for inclusion ).

If you remember the match with S.Corea, and we all remember it very well, the 'expulsion' of Italians was due to the referee, the infamous Jose Moreno. A referee expulsed by FIFA after that match. So don't count on Hiddink. If I were you I would count more on the characterial weakness of today's italian team and the poor form of Totti. I'm not sure Totti's even worth his place. He seems to have been a passenger thus far. I have to admit, I've never been convinced by the guy.

Yeah, with you there. The Swedes were very weak, and I think would have struggled with 12, let alone 10 or 11! I'm really tempted to agree with you. England have a streak of arrogance, traditionally, which would see them vastly underestimate teams like Ecuador. Couple that with a possible false sense of security after the Ecuador v Germany game, and there are perhaps issues for England. I just feel - especially since Sven looks like he'll be flooding the midfield by playing Carrick in a 4-5-1 (and remembering also Rooney's penchant for tracking back) - that the England midfield will have too much for them. The Lahm was especially satisfying, I agree! Right in the corner. Frings in the same game was nice, but I'm with you, it was pretty special to have that happen after just 4-5 minutes of the tournament!

Mind you, you'd like to think that for the three of us naysayers, there are three other supporters in the world saying 'It's Spain's time - has to be!'

I'll look into those - thanks! BTW, I don't own it (yet), but I have only ever heard extremely positive things about the trio date with Miller and Moholo. Also been enjoying 'Shapes' (FMP) recently, with Moholo, Miller, Earl Freeman, Osborne, Surman, and Skidmore.

I have lived in Spain and Brasil, so who do you think I'm supporting? Ooh...dunno...that's hedging your bets. I'd take Brazil ! If I were a betting man, I'd take Brasil, but I'm rooting for Spain! Brad, the only thing that worries me about Spain is their history in these tournaments. [subtext: 'Brad, as a Chelsea supporter, the only thing that I dislike about Spain is the number of Liverpool players they field' ]