The WORLD CUP thread

[Lissa]

I wanted Italy to beat Germany, and I wanted France to beat Portugal.

Now I'm torn as to who I want to win

I love France and the French people, but when the Italians leave their handbags at home they play fabulous football!

But then I'd love Zidane to lift the cup as he's retiring for good, and Ribery just because he's fantastic. But then del Piero will probably never get another chance, and Gattuso is my role model

Damn....................can't they both win?

Originally Posted by trickywoos

It was a poor game, it really was, and I hope that the final will be exciting

I must have been watching a differant match then.

Originally Posted by trickywoos

However, with France being my second home, I'm happy for them, so let's hope they beat the Italians!

Ditto.

Go Zinedine Zidane! saw the first half and glad he scored that penalty

The Portugal Synchronized Diving Team.

Not Good. They were poor in the box and never looked like scoring.

C.Ronaldo is a skillful player but he is now a marked man.

The Penalty was a bit dubious...there was contact but Henry did the dying swan routine.

The guys who have said that all of the last 16 games were poor musn't be watching! Germany-Italy and Brazil-France were as good as any game I've seen.

Originally Posted by philipMac

I must have been watching a differant match then.

Sounds like you were......I thought it was poor, too.

Much as I like France and the French people (especially the Bretons), I'm going to be cheering for Italy because, after their display against Germany, they deserve to win.

I agree, with PH Cannavarro, aided by Zambrotta, will munch Henry unless his game improves.


I've come to the conclusion that many of the poor performances have come from Premiership-based players. They've pretty-much all looked tired and devoid of ideas.

Is the domestic season too long? Poor Stephen Gerrard has been playing once or twice a week for more than 12-months solid since the Champions League Qualifying Round.

So thanks for all your best wishes! :P

I won't pass any comments on the referee, after all this is a U rated site.
As for our players... good heavens, being called divers for a week really helped them, they didn't miss a chance... that or watching Thierry Henry, which to me is still the mother of all divers.

Fact of the matter is they've defended better than we attacked, and we haven't lost because of a lack of will to win.

Germany on saturday it is, then. We have one less day to rest, but our psychological condition is better.

As for the final, I'll be backing up the squadra azurra.

Portugal's biggest failings were the poor performance of Deco last night,(yet another star midfielder to dissapoint in this tournament) and the fact that Pauleta never really looked a threat.

Overall it is difficult to say that one of those two teams was better than the other.


How about this...... Simone Perrotta the Italian midfielder was born in Ashton under Lyne, Greater Manchester! The same birth place as Geoff Hurst!(I never knew Geoff was born in the north?)

What a claim to fame for such a town if Il Azzurri lift the trophy on Sunday!

Originally Posted by Peter Henry

Portugal's biggest failings were the poor performance of Deco last night,(yet another star midfielder to dissapoint in this tournament) and the fact that Pauleta never really looked a threat.

I have to completely agree with you on that...

The Ref was to blame for Portugal's display? The Ref was then to blame for England's poor displays then :P Just because the Ref wasn't fooled by the dives doesn't make him a bad man.

The boos for Ronaldo was English fans.

English fans with a lack of foresight had bought thousands of tickets for the Semi thinking England will be there. They used the occasion to vent their spleens against C.Ronaldo. Proof that he really will be in dire straits if he comes back to Engalnd next season.

Originally Posted by The Basket

The Ref was to blame for Portugal's display? The Ref was then to blame for England's poor displays then :P Just because the Ref wasn't fooled by the dives doesn't make him a bad man.

The boos for Ronaldo was English fans.

English fans with a lack of foresight had bought thousands of tickets for the Semi thinking England will be there. They used the occasion to vent their spleens against C.Ronaldo. Proof that he really will be in dire straits if he comes back to Engalnd next season.

Read my post again and you'll probably find I was the first one to complain against our divers... I just wished the guy used the same criteria for both sides, which he didn't. That, all the time wasting that went on without his noticing, yada yada yada...

I think we can drop it, France again won without scoring any in-game goal, and we lost for that same reason, the difference being a successful dive by the best of the divers, converted by one of the best penalty scorers.

As for English fans booing C. Ronaldo...