brownie Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 Pretty inconclusive that England-Paraguay match! It started pretty well for England but then neither them or Paraguay managed to get it together. England turned out to be pretty lucku with that 1-0 win! Looks like Ericksson, the english coach, and France's Raymond Domenech are out of the same school! Still looking for that Argentina-Ivory Coast match this evening in the hope of seeing real exciting soccer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ASNL77 Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 (edited) Funny game! England seem to have suffered a lot from the heat. They had a very promising start and looked on their way to an easy victory. They found it difficult to keep possession of the ball. But with three points, they are looking very good to make it to the next stage. What is the mood in France regarding the French team, Brownie? I saw them play versus China and they were abysmal. An obvious lack of pace and creativity. Edited June 10, 2006 by ASNL77 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim R Posted June 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 In France we're lucky, since three of the regular TV channels (TF1, M6 and CanalPlus) carry live coverages of all those WC matches! It sure would be nice to have options. The ABC/ESPN coverage here in the U.S. leaves a lot to be desired. The main announcer (Dave O'Brien) is nothing but a silky-voiced novice (new to the sport) who constantly is reading from his fact sheets, dwelling on tangential subjects like David Beckham's private life, Crouch's robot dance, and other meaningless news trivia. Teamed with him is former U.S. defender Marcelo Balboa, who was a very good player, but is downright awful as an analyst. He knows the subject of course, but his whiny voice and jittery delivery make it difficult to follow what he's talking about. I got up before 6 a.m. to watch England/Paraguay this morning, and after listening to these two guys for about five minutes, I was really tempted to go back to bed. Not a very convincing performance from England, but Paraguay looked much worse than I expected. Overall, a dull match, and England were fortunate to get the three points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcy62 Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 (edited) Porcy62, I agree with you (except I wonder what Chairman Mao's position would be on the World Cup ) Well, actually I am a communist about popular sports like football and Tour de France, they should be owned by people, not by a bunch of greedy businessmen. I am not a commies about my records collection! BTW I think The Great Helmsman liked swimming, or sailing, judging by his nickname. Edited June 10, 2006 by porcy62 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
couw Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 I find it interesting that the Europeans on the board didn't think the Ecuadorians looked worthy of the tournament. I thinks it's just a different style of play. I saw a team that dominated possesion especially in the midfield. They defended well and made Poland look very bad. They took their chances when they came and won 2-0. A solid performance. No they didn't create wave after wave of attacks like the Germans but should've they? They had the lead and by keeping so much possesion they limited Poland's chances for counters. I see them through behind the Germans. Ecuador played real sloppy. Not as sloppy as the Polish, but sloppy nonetheless. The midfield was not dominated by any team; ball possession was equally divided between the teams BTW. There were too many inaccuracies in the passes. The Ecuador chances came from long passes from behind, not from sovereign domination of the midfield. There were very few combinations that lived beyond third ball contact. As we saw, the long passes and counter attacks are what Germany should be fearing. Not the style of the Polish, but certainly fitting for the Ecuador team. The Polish will probably just barely kill a couple of Germans and try to win the physical way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmitry Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 It sure would be nice to have options. The ABC/ESPN coverage here in the U.S. leaves a lot to be desired. The main announcer (Dave O'Brien) is nothing but a silky-voiced novice (new to the sport) who constantly is reading from his fact sheets, dwelling on tangential subjects like David Beckham's private life, Crouch's robot dance, and other meaningless news trivia. Teamed with him is former U.S. defender Marcelo Balboa, who was a very good player, but is downright awful as an analyst. He knows the subject of course, but his whiny voice and jittery delivery make it difficult to follow what he's talking about. I got up before 6 a.m. to watch England/Paraguay this morning, and after listening to these two guys for about five minutes, I was really tempted to go back to bed. Yep, as usual, the announcing skills of the American talking heads sucked bollocks. I had to switch to Univision for that very reason. I don't understand much Spanish, but at least they had fire in the way they talked about the game. Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
couw Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 so the Swedes did not manage to make a goal against the tough and spirited TriniTobagoes. Not even when they were playing 11 to 10 for almost the entire second half. Their 4 defenders were always there way in the back though, which may have been a blessing, but moving ahead some with the midfield and attacking/defending much earlier would have built up much more pressure. We saw a bit of it towards the end: attack upon attack. The Swedes somehow did not manage to control the midfield and only had two guys up front with most attacks. Too careful maybe. They definitely had the better players, but it were Beenhakker's Boys who managed some fast combinations on the midfield, creating some good chances, although they never got close to the Swedish goal with more than 2 players. Sweden needs to think up another tactic but to play on Ibrahimovic and on Ibrahimovic and Ibrahimovic... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
couw Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 oh and man of the game: Shaka Hislop! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 England seem to have suffered a lot from the heat. Let's hope that this is the only reason. They started off so well then seemed to lose it completely. Why did that overpaid serial bonker/manager take Owen off after only 50-odd minutes? Still, it's 3 vital points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcy62 Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 Hey, it seems that some big bosses of Fifa read my post, I can see Argentina's match LIVE this evening...without spent a cent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ASNL77 Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 England seem to have suffered a lot from the heat. Let's hope that this is the only reason. They started off so well then seemed to lose it completely. Why did that overpaid serial bonker/manager take Owen off after only 50-odd minutes? Still, it's 3 vital points. He said after the game that he took Owen off because England couldn't hold onto the ball. Well, it didn't prove to be a successfull move. England struggled a lot in the second half and created very few chances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
couw Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 Experience beat enthusiasm, Argentina - Côte d'Ivoir: 2 to 1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 Experience beat enthusiasm, Argentina - Côte d'Ivoir: 2 to 1. This match was like a soccer revival meeting to renew the faith in the religion of Football! Argentina looks like the strongest team so far. I was sorry to see Ivory Coast defeated. They have enthusiasm indeed but their defense seemed a bit confused! Great game! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 Experience beat enthusiasm, Argentina - Côte d'Ivoir: 2 to 1. This match was like a soccer revival meeting to renew the faith in the religion of Football! Argentina looks like the strongest team so far. I was sorry to see Ivory Coast defeated. They have enthusiasm indeed but their defense seemed a bit confused! Great game! Yeah, I thought Cote d'Ivoire played well. Argentina were better at marking and, therefore, finding space. But Dindin (sp?) did some splendid stuff when he came on. Be good to see them in action again. I must confess, I hoped they'd pull off another stunt like Senegal did last time. Too much to hope for. Angola tomorrow against Portugal. A needle match I suspect. MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmitry Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 Experience beat enthusiasm, Argentina - Côte d'Ivoir: 2 to 1. This match was like a soccer revival meeting to renew the faith in the religion of Football! Argentina looks like the strongest team so far. I was sorry to see Ivory Coast defeated. They have enthusiasm indeed but their defense seemed a bit confused! Great game! Arfentina certainly looked like a solid, well-crafted team, reminded me of the Italians ca. 1980s, Enzo Bearzot's team with Paolo Rossi. I loved the Cote D'Ivoire team! My hat's off to them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcy62 Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 For sure, Argentina's coach is a thought guy, he left home all the 'senators' player like Veron, Samuel, etc.. I agree with Brownie: solid team, they could go far. Dmitry, your paragon with Bearzot's team almost make me cry...for nostalgia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Hawkins Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 England just about scraped through against Paraguay 1:0. The jury is out. ... If not for the Paraguay's own goal in the early minutes, this game may have gone into over-time with uncertain outcome. As per the Sweden - T/T game, these games end in draws. I think it's primarily (exclusively?) a MLS thing, playing extra time in non-knockout matches. Agreed - Shaka Hislop was fantastic. Showing the form which had him thought of as one of the best shot-stopping 'keepers in the Premiership a few seasons back. Had a gig, so missed England...the substitutions sound downright weird though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Hawkins Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 p.s. what a nice change to see a German team which can't defend, but which can score goals. Add the creativity and steel of Ballack, and they'll be useful, if vulnerable IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcy62 Posted June 11, 2006 Report Share Posted June 11, 2006 (edited) http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/w...006/4852606.stm Have not tried this yet and not sure you will be able to get into a full TV coverage. In France we're lucky, since three of the regular TV channels (TF1, M6 and CanalPlus) carry live coverages of all those WC matches! Good luck! Sadly, it was available only for UK citizen . Anyway I discover that italian national Tv will broadcast most of the evening matches, for free. Edited June 11, 2006 by porcy62 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted June 11, 2006 Report Share Posted June 11, 2006 Holland defeated Serbia-Montenegro 1-0. Not a bad match but the Dutch team will not be a match for Argentina if Argentina plays more games like the one they did yesterday against Ivory Coast. Not really in the same league. And Ivory Coast may be dangerous to those Dutch players! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
couw Posted June 11, 2006 Report Share Posted June 11, 2006 Holland defeated Serbia-Montenegro 1-0. Not a bad match but the Dutch team will not be a match for Argentina if Argentina plays more games like the one they did yesterday against Ivory Coast. Not really in the same league. And Ivory Coast may be dangerous to those Dutch players! I think the Dutch performed remarkably well for the more than 30°C atmosphere in Leipzig! The Argentinians were complaining about the heat and they played at 9 o'clock in the evening. The Dutch were playing pretty similar to Argentina just that the tempo was slower. The Dutch inner defense stood pretty solid, Van der Sar included. The Serbian defense stood even tighter, a real tough nut to crack! This is a killer group. Serbia may be dangerous to those Argentinians! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted June 11, 2006 Report Share Posted June 11, 2006 This is a killer group. Serbia may be dangerous to those Argentinians! couw, don't shortchange those Ivory Coast Elephants! Oh yes, this is a killer group. Obviously the toughest. Whoever fails to qualify for the second round should walk out with a proud head! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
couw Posted June 11, 2006 Report Share Posted June 11, 2006 This is a killer group. Serbia may be dangerous to those Argentinians! couw, don't shortchange those Ivory Coast Elephants! I never did! Oh yes, this is a killer group. Obviously the toughest. Whoever fails to qualify for the second round should walk out with a proud head! some were definitely much luckier when it came to picking those small balls from the bowls... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted June 11, 2006 Report Share Posted June 11, 2006 some were definitely much luckier when it came to picking those small balls from the bowls... If you mean the French were luckier, fully agree If they had been in that group C, they would end up fifth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted June 11, 2006 Report Share Posted June 11, 2006 some were definitely much luckier when it came to picking those small balls from the bowls... If you mean the French were luckier, fully agree If they had been in that group C, they would end up fifth Nah - France will do better - Senegal didn't qualify! MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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