World Cup in Germany

[Arne]

USA down by one against Ghana. The Czechs down by one against Italy. This would put Italy and Ghana into the next round. Lets see what happens in the second half.

[OzMavs]

Australia 2: Croatia 2

One of the weirdest games you are ever likely to see. Srna scored from a set play after 2 minutes. Australia, through Tim Cahill, gained a penalty, which Craig Moore converted. Croatia then went ahead early in the 2nd half, thanks to Kovac's strike outside of the box. Australian keeper Kalac botched the easiest of saves. Harry Kewell then equalised, though, it did appear he was offside. Croatia were then reduced to 10 men, with Simic sent off at the 84th minute, this was quickly followed by Emerton being sent off for Australia. Simunic, got what appeared to be his 2nd yellow card, but continued on. I think the coverage got that one wrong.

The referee was an absolute disgrace. Australians were blatantly being held in the penalty area, and an obvious hand ball was missed.

[pickupyonuts]

AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE OY OY OY...austraila is my team...what happened at the VERY end of the game...i thought cahill scored, then i thought the ref called a penalty, then the game was over!?!?...and i don't believe it was the coverage that got the card problem wrong w/ simunic...i think he really did recieve his third yellow in the 93rd minute and the ref was just too stupid to realize.

[OzMavs]

Originally Posted by pickupyonuts

AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE OY OY OY...austraila is my team...what happened at the VERY end of the game...i thought cahill scored, then i thought the ref called a penalty, then the game was over!?!?...and i don't believe it was the coverage that got the card problem wrong w/ simunic...i think he really did recieve his third yellow in the 93rd minute and the ref was just too stupid to realize.

Yeah, I was discussing the Simunic card situation with a few mates that watched it today. I think that the first card was actually given to Simic, not Simunic. The reason is that the commentator was very surprised when Simic was given the red card, after been first shown the yellow card.

I don't know what happened at the end- totally bizarre. Why the Australian goal did not stand or at least a penalty given is unexplainable. Poll lost the plot. Now the Aussies play Italy. Given Italy's past record of shooting itself in the foot, this game could be closer than it appears. Australia will miss Brett Emerton, though. His two yellow cards were disgraceful.

[pickupyonuts]

Originally Posted by OzMavs

Yeah, I was discussing the Simunic card situation with a few mates that watched it today. I think that the first card was actually given to Simic, not Simunic. The reason is that the commentator was very surprised when Simic was given the red card, after been first shown the yellow card.

I don't know what happened at the end- totally bizarre. Why the Australian goal did not stand or at least a penalty given is unexplainable. Poll lost the plot. Now the Aussies play Italy. Given Italy's past record of shooting itself in the foot, this game could be closer than it appears. Australia will miss Brett Emerton, though. His two yellow cards were disgraceful.

i don't remember emertons first booking. what i do know is, unfortunately, he deserved the one against croatia based on fifa laws of the game. he intentionally reached his arm a little bit higher to touch the ball and keep it from goin through...sad, but deserving...fifa or the refs need to lighten up on this yellow card mess. my friends went to watch the serbia mont. play ivory coast...they were looking forward to seeing drogba play...unfortunately for them he was suspended because of two bogus yellows. lucky for them it ended up being an amazing game, since they were goin for ivory coast.

[pickupyonuts]

oh yeah, i definately think austraila has a chance....at times their defense looks unbeatable...other times it looks completely dismantled. they have a strong offense and can score goals...viduka will have to play a big roll. he really needs to get on the score sheet some time soon. cahill is legendary.

[jleefilled]

Korea is out. What a terrible week in sports it has been for me. : (

But what a scene it was in Korea Town in LA for the game today! Growing up in Dallas, I've never seen anything like that, and I did watch both of Korea's world cup games at the Cotton Bowl in '94. Thousands of red shirted Korean soccer fans were just about everywhere you went for about a two-mile radius. There were crazy incentives if Korea won, too -- all the food in Korea town would be free for the day. Too bad.

[twelli]

The second round is set:

Germany - Sweden
Germany should win, though the Swedes are a tough match-up. Germany has the home advantage and brims with confidence after three wins in a row. Germany by 2.

Argentina - Mexico
Argentina has shown it is one of the favorites for the title. Mexico just barely made it to the second round. Argentina by 3.

England - Ecuador
England is favorite, but Ecuador is dangerous. They didn't play at full strength in the loss to Germany and England is always in danger of failing miserably. England by 1.

Portugal - Netherlands
Hard to tell which is the better team. Both have star players and young guns. This goes to overtime. Do we still have the golden goal rule? Netherlands by 1.

Italy - Australia
The Australians come back to earth. But it won't be easy for Italy. I didn't really enjoy the games by the Italians so far. They play ugly but successful. Italy by 2.

Switzerland - Ukraine
Two of the weaker teams in the second round. Shevchenko hasn't really been that impressive so far. The Swiss didn't lose in the first three games. The Ukrainians were pummeled 4 - 0 by Spain. Based on that: Switzerland by 1 in overtime.

Brazil - Ghana
No chance for Brazil...
...to lose this game. Ronaldo tries to score his 15th WC goal to go into the record books. Ronaldinho scores twice. Brazil by 3.

Spain - France
Spain probably would have liked Switzerland instead of France, but they will win anyway. They play well together and France has a lot of issues. Spain by 2.

[AxdemxO]

The winner of Brazil and Ghana will win it all......although i like rootin for Ghana cuz they are the under dogg, it just seems impossible against Brazil.

My piks for who will win it go like this
1 Brazil 50%
2 Argentina 47 %
3 Ghana (need an underdogg in here) 3%

[pickupyonuts]

brazil 35%
argentina 35%
germany 20%
AUSTRAILA 10%

[Arne]

Great win once again, Germany is really playing on a level high above their opponents right now. They are playing out of their minds.

They made Sweden look like total amateurs. Shots at the goals:

Germany 38 or something like that

Sweden 3 or 4

Once again: IMPRESSIVE.

[pickupyonuts]

i will be impressed once they beat a decent opponent. sweden tied trinidad and tobago. what a joke.

[Member]

Argentina beats Mexico 2:1 in OT, what a great game, and what a goal in the OT. Just an absolute sick chest and volley finish

[mavsman]

Originally Posted by pickupyonuts

i will be impressed once they beat a decent opponent. sweden tied trinidad and tobago. what a joke.

They also tied England. Okay, they're a joke as well, but still I can't bear crap like that any longer. Argentina couldn't beat a decent team in the Netherlands and just got barely by Mexico, a team that couldn't beat Angola and got beat by Portugal, yet Argentina are everybody's darling.

[Arne]

Originally Posted by pickupyonuts

i will be impressed once they beat a decent opponent. sweden tied trinidad and tobago. what a joke.

Sweden tied England, so England is a joke, as well?
Italy tied the USA, so Italy is a joke, as well?
France tied South Corea, so France is a joke, as well?

It's not that Germany won, its the way they won it. They got 38 shots on offense (that's an awful lot for a soccer game, awful lot.), while allowing only 3 on defense.

[Arne]

Originally Posted by Member

Argentina beats Mexico 2:1 in OT, what a great game, and what a goal in the OT. Just an absolute sick chest and volley finish

These two goals were unbelieveable, but the game alltogether was rather boring and not really fun to watch in my opinion.

[pickupyonuts]

Originally Posted by mavsman

They also tied England. Okay, they're a joke as well, but still I can't bear crap like that any longer. Argentina couldn't beat a decent team in the Netherlands and just got barely by Mexico, a team that couldn't beat Angola and got beat by Portugal, yet Argentina are everybody's darling.

argentina was in, and came out on top of the best group in the tournament. aregentina did not play all of their starters against holland and still tied them. that is good. netherlands is an amzing team as well as ivory coast. ivory coast would have gotten out of any group except the one they were in. i feel very badly for them being put in that situation. i am giving argentina a good shot at winning this...but my team is still austraia!!!!!!!!

[pickupyonuts]

Originally Posted by Arne

Sweden tied England, so England is a joke, as well?
Italy tied the USA, so Italy is a joke, as well?
France tied South Corea, so France is a joke, as well?

It's not that Germany won, its the way they won it. They got 38 shots on offense (that's an awful lot for a soccer game, awful lot.), while allowing only 3 on defense.

england is playing awful...just AWFUL so yeah, right now they are a joke. maybe i shouldn't make that comparison with the ties..but there is a big difference in the US and Trinidad and tobago. usa destroyed trinidad before the world cup in qualifying. France..yes, france is a joke. they probably have the second or third most talented team and have not played up to anywhere near their potential.

[twelli]

Germany - Sweden 2:0
The Klose-Podolski duo is working well together. The Swedish goalie with some great saves. The German defender Friedrich with some huge mistakes again. If the Germans aim a bit lower while shooting from the distance, they could have won by 4 or 5.

Argentina - Mexico 2:1
Very nice goal by Rodriguez. Good news for the Germans. The Argentines are beatable. But you can't make mistakes on defense. Messi is living up to all the hype. He will be a force in the coming years.

[OzMavs]

Italy 1 dive: Australia 0

Now, that is a disgraceful way to end a match. Congratulations to the Spanish referee. What a dive by the Italian, Greg Louganis would have been proud. Terrible. I feel sick. I really, really hope Ukraine stick it to these pansies, but I can't see it happening. I'm on the England bandwagon now.

[some-dude]

Originally Posted by OzMavs

Italy 1 dive: Australia 0

Now, that is a disgraceful way to end a match. Congratulations to the Spanish referee. What a dive by the Italian, Greg Louganis would have been proud. Terrible. I feel sick. I really, really hope Ukraine stick it to these pansies, but I can't see it happening. I'm on the England bandwagon now.

Yeah, I saw that. The Ozzies got jobbed. Minor contact is made, the Italien guy flops worse than Manu, and gets a completely undeserved PK.

Im cheering for France since I love Henrys game and if France loses that i'm rooting for Shevchenko and the Ukrainiens.

[twelli]

Italy plays like the Germans in previous tournaments. Ugly but lucky. The Australian defender was lying on the ground with his back to the Italian. How can that be a foul? In the last seconds of stoppage time this was really a bad decision by the referee. Maybe he thought he owed the Italians something for sending off the defender earlier on.

[twelli]

Tonight I watch Brasil - Ghana. Looking foward to a 5-4 score...

[twelli]

Quarter Finals Matchups

Germany - Argentina
Before the tournament everyone would have picked Argentina to win this game, but now, after four solid wins by the Germans, with a successful offensive line, an improving defense, and the home field advantage, I wouldn't be surprised to see Germany go through to the Semi Finals. After blowing out Serbia 6:0, Argentina didn't impress as much in the last two games. Germany by 2.

England - Portugal
Don't know which team to pick. England hasn't really played that well. Portugal has beaten the Netherlands. I think Portugal plays better, but England will win. Probably a penalty shoot-out (5-4).

Italy - Ukraine
I go with Italy on this one. I like to see an Italy - Germany clash in the next round. The Ukraine plays ugly and they should be happy to have made it so far. Italy by 1.

Brazil - France
Brazil is the favorite, but the uninspired way they played Ghana, this could be a very close game. I expect Henry to score twice. France by 1.

Semi Finals will be a pure European Affair
Germany - Italy
England - France

[u2sarajevo]

Anyone watching this? Germany vs. Argentina?

Good show.

Go Germany!!!!

[GP]

It's over. Argentina put up a valliant effort today. Losing their goalkeeper turned out disastrously as the backup could not stop 1 kick in the shootout. Lehman was huge and stopped 2 kicks. I love this system so much better than the NBA version. Great, great match. Very interesting. Very exciting. My new favorite sport.

Go Germany!!!!!

[Pongo]

'SCHLAAAAAND SCHLAAAND DEUTSCHLAND 'SCHLAAAND =)

ahem, sorry guys, I'm pretty drunk.... WHAT A GREAT WIN GODDAMNIT!

This was almost as exciting as seing the mavs win a regular season match :P

Klose ftw!

[Big Boy Laroux]

germany's goal in regulation was a thing of beauty. cross, then directed header for a diving header.


but perhaps if their starting goalie was in, he would have broken that play up.

[Pongo]

Mavs win it all 2007, that's for sure! sorry, offtopic HAHA!



Mffl

[Pongo]

Originally Posted by Big Boy Laroux

germany's goal in regualtion was a thing of beauty. cross, then directed header for a diving header.

but perhaps if their starting goalie was in, he would have broken that play up.

Oliver Kahn? nah, just kidding!

argentinia's starting goalie sucks as well, doesn't matter
=)

[Big Boy Laroux]

hey, i'm pulling for germany all the way (lived there for almost 8 years when i was younger), but i think they lucked out by having the second string goalie in there. it was a beautiful play, but it took some time to develop. most goalies would be out breaking that play up.

[Big Boy Laroux]

so it's germany vs. italy. and italy looked damned good today. the only goal they've given up in this tourney is an own goal.

[NXperience]

Originally Posted by Big Boy Laroux

so it's germany vs. italy. and italy looked damned good today. the only goal they've given up in this tourney is an own goal.

Well the Ukraine wasn't that hard of an opponent, sure I respect everyone that comes so far. But the Ukraine isn't as good a team as argentinia and have been lucky to meet the Swiss the round before to get this far.
I hope germany will win it they haven't won ONCE against italy in a World Cup
The party here in Berlin is/was awesome by the way
It is so much fun to celebrate with so many fans

[Mavdog]

Originally Posted by Big Boy Laroux

so it's germany vs. italy. and italy looked damned good today. the only goal they've given up in this tourney is an own goal.

italy was very fortunate to not concede a goal to ukraine.

germany did not play as well as they had and pulled out a win.

this should be a great match.

[Big Boy Laroux]

of couse ukraine isn't as good as argentina. there's no doubt about that. but they're still a world cup team. and italy moved the ball very well against them.

mavdog, you are definitely right, though. ukraine had some good chances (hit the cross bar, had a great save from.. damn, what was his name... the guy who scored the first goal).

hopefully germany can pull it out. i'll be rooting for them.

[bernardos70]

I'm like MightyToine here being fixated on a single subject matter, but I think if Brazil wins this thing, it'll be solely due to their defense. Lucio and Juan have been absolutely incredible, nothing is getting past them. And if it does, Dida has been doing an outstanding job between the posts. I'm damn proud of the defense, which is always our weakest point. Lucio hasn't fouled anyone in any of the 4 matches we've played, and we only got scored on once.

[twelli]

Brazil hasn't played any real strong opponent yet. They won't be able to beat France in cruise control like they did against Ghana. Let's see if they can stop Henry. This dude is overdue to score a goal or two. France might do the unthinkable... But then, Ronaldinho is also overdue to deliver...

As to Germany - Argentina, I think Pekerman should have kept Riquelme in or insert Messi. They didn't have any offensive thread toward the end of the game.

Klinsmann has made so many right decisions despite being constantly criticed. I really feel good for him. Lehmann makes the saves. Odonkor gives the Germans the needed spark. Friedrich doesn't make mistakes anymore. If Klinsmann would have listened to all the critics, those three players wouldn't even be on the field.

[Arne]

This was such an emotional game, I could hardly talk afterwards. I was in the city for the game, went home after it and still had a big smile on my face when I returned to the city two hours later.

As to Germany's goal, I don't think anyone would have broken up that play. You'd have to catch the ball before Borowski heads it, otherwise you'd have no chance whatsoever.

[Novice#41]

germany vs argentina

damn, what a breathtaking game ! I'm still stunned !

my semi finals prediction
germany - italy (set already)
portugal - brazil

and hell, I would love to see that facial expression again!

come on, Michael - lead us to the finals!!!

[NXperience]

Hmmm Portugal winning in a rather boring game (at least in my opinion). I don't like any of these teams so it was of not so much interest for me maybe thats the reason it was boring for me. Well I hope whomever Portugal meets nexts is destroying em ^^