[Gerardo]

Sigi_BC84, on Jun 25 2006, 12:29 PM, said:

This time we were lucky again to get an easy group ....

(talking about the host team)

Luck has nothing to do with this.

[Aberlour10]

1st half England-Ecuador, what a horrible show, it seems the Sons of Albion return to their awful style from the 70's

Robert

[P_Marlowe]

Sigi_BC84, on Jun 25 2006, 10:29 AM, said:

Walddk, on Jun 25 2006, 06:49 AM, said:

In 2002 Germany were extremely lucky to make it all the way to the final (I think that even German supporters will agree).

Every German fan still right in his mind agrees with that. In 2002 it was mainly luck and the extraordinary performance of goal keeper Oliver Kahn what brought us into the finals.

Dont forget Michael Ballack.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[Deanrover]

Beckhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam!!!!!!!!

[Sigi_BC84]

Gerardo, on Jun 25 2006, 05:44 PM, said:

Sigi_BC84, on Jun 25 2006, 12:29 PM, said:

This time we were lucky again to get an easy group ....

(talking about the host team)

Luck has nothing to do with this.

Sounds Italian -- I thought you are from Argentina...

--Sigi

[the saint]

We are crap, but we are still there.

However, I am yet to see one decent ref in this world cup (quelle surprise) and I doubt I will. Having seen the Holland-Portugal match, I do find it hard to believe it can get any worse. I stand by my comments earlier that FIFA has to clamp down on professional conning, not physical contact.

[cherdano]

the saint, on Jun 26 2006, 12:05 AM, said:

We are crap, but we are still there.

However, I am yet to see one decent ref in this world cup (quelle surprise) and I doubt I will. Having seen the Holland-Portugal match, I do find it hard to believe it can get any worse. I stand by my comments earlier that FIFA has to clamp down on professional conning, not physical contact.

Maybe I saw a different game, but in the game I saw, the trouble started when a dutch player only got a yellow card for a rude foul on Ronaldo. Later, he missed a red card for Figo. And a few more opportunities for cards...
Anyway, for most of the card the "physical contact" was someone hitting their opponents legs with their boots. Do you really want to allow that? Do you know how much football boots hurt, especially in full speed as most of the action in football of 2006?

[whereagles]

Hannie, on Jun 24 2006, 11:16 AM, said:

whereagles, on Jun 23 2006, 08:24 AM, said:

I'm pretty comfortable with the fact that Portugal won something like 9 of the last 10 games against Holand thankyouverymuch       

In that case you have nothing to fear, your record will still be decent after the Sunday-deception.

You're right. It even got better

Dirty game, though. 4 red cards! With our two best players out, England is going to be quite hard.

[Sigi_BC84]

whereagles, on Jun 26 2006, 12:29 AM, said:

Dirty game, though. 4 red cards! With our two best players out, England is going to be quite hard.

Four reds is World Cup historical record. I can't remember a game as crooked and chaotic as this one -- great show in any case ;-).

England is not going to be hard, because England sucks in this tournament. Portugal should be able to beat them even without Costinha and Deco.

I guess the real problem for Portugal will be there in the semi-finals -- five players (including Figo and Maniche) are bringing yellows with them out of the brawl against Netherlands and each of them will be sitting out if they draw another one against England.

Anyways, I'll cross my fingers for Portugal during their next match that they'll teach the English their overdue lesson. I'd cry myself to sleep if Mr. Hairdo, Bean Pole and Pancake Face make it into the semis.

--Sigi

[han]

whereagles, on Jun 25 2006, 05:29 PM, said:

Hannie, on Jun 24 2006, 11:16 AM, said:

whereagles, on Jun 23 2006, 08:24 AM, said:

I'm pretty comfortable with the fact that Portugal won something like 9 of the last 10 games against Holand thankyouverymuch       

In that case you have nothing to fear, your record will still be decent after the Sunday-deception.

You're right. It even got better

Dirty game, though. 4 red cards! With our two best players out, England is going to be quite hard.

Congrats Wereagles, it was an ugly game but Portugal deserved to win. I'm afraid that they will miss Deco a lot against England, but I will root for you.

I agree with Arend that it was not the referee but the players who made the game what it was. If you look at all the times that a card was given (16 yellow + 4 red!) then you won't find many mistakes of the referee. Arend is right that the horrible kick by Boularouz deserved a red card, not a yellow, I felt justice was done when he got his second yellow card for the much smaller offense later in the game.

[whereagles]

Well, 'sepp Blatter himself said the referee wasn't up to the task. The foul against Ronaldo triggered the nervousness. If the referee had acted there, it might not have gone out of hand.

Still, players of this level of skill and experience are expected to behave better. But we all know things get messy in the heat of the battle. After all, we're all sportsmen as well

[cherdano]

whereagles, on Jun 26 2006, 12:57 PM, said:

Well, 'sepp Blatter himself said the referee wasn't up to the task. The foul against Ronaldo triggered the nervousness. If the referee had acted there, it might not have gone out of hand.

Still, players of this level of skill and experience are expected to behave better. But we all know things get messy in the heat of the battle. After all, we're all sportsmen as well

Uh oh, what do you mean by "Sepp Blatter himself"? As far as I can tell, he isn't involved with FIFA referee training, he is never very protective of his referees, and rather prefers to be an armchair referee like the rest of us. It sounds like saying "Franz Beckenbauer himself admitted Bayern Munich didn't play well". Nothing Kaiser Franz likes more than criticizing his players...

Anyway, I agree the referee wasn't very good, sometimes he was a little too harsh, more often he missed a clear card (or gave yellow instead of red).

Arend

[cherdano]

Walddk, on Jun 19 2006, 01:10 PM, said:

cherdano, on Jun 19 2006, 12:27 PM, said:

I admit the red card for Italy would have been worth sending the whole team off, preferably for all the matches.

Arend

What a ridiculous comment, unless ....

1. You change the rules (it hasn't happened yet as far as I know).
2. That you, even if you could, send the whole German team off next time any German player is sent off.

It's no big deal as far as Germany is concerned anyway. They will be knocked out after the group stage. That will save the rest of us from the boring football Germany has delivered since the 70's.

Roland

Actually at this point, even Roland take-every-tongue-in-cheek-comment-serious Walddk might understand how wise my comment was. Had rules been changed in time, the referee could have sent off all 22 players on the pitch sunday night, and FIFA send home both teams afterwards...

[Walddk]

Yes, send all the teams home, except the angels from Germany of course. That would be the only chance Germany has if they are to become world champions.

Roland

[the saint]

Sigi_BC84, on Jun 26 2006, 12:15 AM, said:

whereagles, on Jun 26 2006, 12:29 AM, said:

Dirty game, though. 4 red cards! With our two best players out, England is going to be quite hard.

Four reds is World Cup historical record. I can't remember a game as crooked and chaotic as this one -- great show in any case ;-).

England is not going to be hard, because England sucks in this tournament. Portugal should be able to beat them even without Costinha and Deco.

I guess the real problem for Portugal will be there in the semi-finals -- five players (including Figo and Maniche) are bringing yellows with them out of the brawl against Netherlands and each of them will be sitting out if they draw another one against England.

Anyways, I'll cross my fingers for Portugal during their next match that they'll teach the English their overdue lesson. I'd cry myself to sleep if Mr. Hairdo, Bean Pole and Pancake Face make it into the semis.

--Sigi

England will beat Portugal.... So long as Lampard is dropped for Crouch and Beckham for Lennon. Who am I kidding, England are due a performance and we will cane Figo and co.

You lot actually awake when it comes to all this red card stuff? I've told you all before that its FIFAs fault clamping down on all the wrong things. Instead of allowing a certain amount of physicality and cutting out all the cheating (some teams are much worse than others, but as this is a multi-national board, I won't shame which ones cheat their way to victory as their first course of action because it will only rile people). As a result, you only have to breath on someone to get booked and it has turned into a diving competition to see who can get the most opponents sent off. To encourage free flowing football, you have to allow challenges to be made. All this stop-start nonsense has stifled games. Players must also be banned immediately from harassing the referees. It is ugly and unsportsmanlike - witness Podolski's patting the ref on the back for sending off Lucic. There is no place for that.

Where to begin? KICK OUT SEPP BLATTER NOW. THE MAN IS A COMPLETE %*&*£!

This World Cup is being spoilt by his edicts.

[Aberlour10]

Another match with more controversial Ref' decisions took place. What do you
think about the red card for Materazzi and the penalty situation in the last minute?
I think both decisions were wrong.

Robert

[whereagles]

Will Collina make a comeback???

[whereagles]

the saint, on Jun 26 2006, 05:27 PM, said:

So long as Lampard is dropped for Crouch

Don't discard Crouch. He's our 12th man!

[Sigi_BC84]

Walddk, on Jun 26 2006, 05:43 PM, said:

Yes, send all the teams home, except the angels from Germany of course. That would be the only chance Germany has if they are to become world champions.

Hey Roland,

nice trolling attempt. I will follow-up again after the Germans have sent Argentina home on Friday.

Please already start thinking about your next prediction "when the party will be over (for real, this time)", because I'll be expecting one from you by then :-).

Cheers,
Sigi

[Sigi_BC84]

Aberlour10, on Jun 26 2006, 07:40 PM, said:

Another match with more controversial Ref' decisions took place. What do you
think about the red card for Materazzi and the penalty situation in the last minute?
I think both decisions were wrong.

I think the Red Card decision was wrong (bad foulplay but Yellow would have been enough).

I also think the Penalty Kick decision was okay. My first emotional reaction was different but in the end I have to admit that it had to be penalized. Obviously the Italian didn't make an effort not to fall at this point, but nobody would have. It was quite careless by the Australian to jump into his way the way he did.

I'm very disappointed that the Aussies got eliminated that way, literally in the last second. They have played a good tournament and I hope they'll find a good coach to continue the excellent work of Guus Hiddink.

--Sigi