Official 2006 World Cup Thread...Italy wins 1-1 (5-3 PSO)

USA down 0-2. For some reason I'm happy cuz if they beat the Czechs I would puke hearing those ESPN or whoever guys singing US praise as part of the world football elite.

arent the US like ranked in the top 10? I wouldnt say they are elite, but i guess their not bad and alright. Also, isnt Mexico ranked 4th in the world?

The qualifying group that US are in (CONCAF or some shit) is like the Midwest Division in the NBA. Mexico and USA are the only decent teams and then there's Costa Rica and TnT and Canadia.

Its Canada damnit (yes i know it was only a typo). And what are you talking about Canadians crap at football, heck im in the quarter finals against Denmark...on my PS2 that is...your right, Canada isnt great, ranked somewhere in the low eighties I think. Canada's younger players and squad arent bad though, their probably gonna turn out to be more decent once they reach the age and potential when they are on the national mens team. Also, if this counts for anything, Tomasz Radzinski plays for Canada .

On a side note, damn gotta wait till later tonight to watch the replay of that Japan-Australia game, definately want to see the final 10 minutes or so of that match.

Edit: sorry for the double post, was sleepy.

I think they're 5th, but that's because they win every game playing against these teams

In a completely non-homosexual way, I think Italy by far have the best looking team in the World Cup I think we can rule France out purely because of Franck Ribery..

Wow Arsenal have got an absolute bargain in Rosicky.

Thats all I was thinking while watching that game. The way he runs and attacks seem like a perfect match for Arsenal's style. I would be surprised to see them make a serious bid for some hardware next season.

USA down 0-2. For some reason I'm happy cuz if they beat the Czechs I would puke hearing those ESPN or whoever guys singing US praise as part of the world football elite.

arent the US like ranked in the top 10? I wouldnt say they are elite, but i guess their not bad and alright. Also, isnt Mexico ranked 4th in the world?

When was the last time they beat a quality European team? USA plays against shitty Carribean teams all the time then want to thump their chests for being no.5? Lets look at Jamaica(my home country), they got like 6-0 from England and 4-0 from Ghana (dont quote me on scores but I'm 80% sure). The only reason some European teams are ranked lower than them is because they play other quality teams and when you do that you are bound to lose some matches.

To USAs credit they did look somewhat decent on the ball after they let in the first goal. They were having like 60% possession at that point and created a couple half chances leading up to Reyna's strike that hit the post. When the second goal went in they seemed to give up. Rosicky could have had a hat-trick if not for the crossbar.

Right now I feel sorry for the US because the local media has built so much unneccessary hype around them which was bound to lead them to failure the second they stumbled. Now that they lost it seems everyone in the news is righting them off and telling them how much they suck. Even the US coach feels the pressure, did you hear his comments after the game? Did you see his expressions during the game? A coach should provide leadership during rough times and all he was doing was sulking like a girl with this I dont give a hoot attitude. I personally was most disappointed in him. Everybody played bad and he didnt do much either so I dont think it was best to call out Donovan and Beasley the way he did considering that everybody in the US is already talking shit about all of them. The Czechs were a better side to begin with but so many people started running lip about the US winning their match before it even started. I mean, do we all seriously believe they are better than England? They need to stick together during this rough time and it seems now that this is not the case. It was a disaster in the making from the get-go.

In a completely non-homosexual way, I think Italy by far have the best looking team in the World Cup I think we can rule France out purely because of Franck Ribery..

Looks like he was playing some Aussie Rules Football.

Woah I thought Japan had the game booked and then Cahill came out of nowhere. Good comeback by the Australians although I reckon Aloisi is a bit of a headcase seeing the way he plays, don't really like his on-field behaviour but the rest of the team seem decent.

Man what happend to us, Bruce Arena was in some other world the whole game and seriously pissed me off. Oh well now we have an uphill battle and it's a must win against the Italians and against Ghana. Shame Reyna's shot didn't go in or we would have got a momentum shift and obviously won 5-2.

I hate the dick for scoring against us but Rosicky looks awesome, might be a really deadly player for Arsenal next season and shit Koller's a monster, he's so damn huge.

Who the heck is IAQUINTA? Never heard of him but my Mom was happy to see them win and I don't mind seeing them do well either, if the States don't lift it then it might aswell be them. But fuck I have work in the morning and I'm going to miss Brazil vs. Jugsland and probably France vs. Switzerland too. Korea vs. Togo is nothing but a D grade game.

Iaquinta is a good player, he's like Luca Toni in that he came from nowhere and is now one of the best strikers in Italy. Luca Toni was playing in Serie B not long ago from what I remember, wasn't exactly regarded as one of the top strikers in the country but from what the commentators said, his 30+ goals were the most anyone had scored in Serie A for 47 years or something

Iaquinta is a good player, he's like Luca Toni in that he came from nowhere and is now one of the best strikers in Italy. Luca Toni was playing in Serie B not long ago from what I remember, wasn't exactly regarded as one of the top strikers in the country but from what the commentators said, his 30+ goals were the most anyone had scored in Serie A for 47 years or something

I heard of Iaquinta also(probably FM ) but this is the first I ever saw him play. Pretty well taken goal.

Just wanna say I saw the games and both those wins were highly undeserved,the refs totally favored the home team(Korea). The refs performances at the previous World Cup was the worst we've ever seen;totally favoring home teams and big names(Brazil)

there are no "home" teams in the world cup besides the host team

Next game, take out Pablo, put Reyna at his spot, Donovan back in the midfield, and have Eddie play up top with McBride. Either that, or get O'Brien in for Mastroeni, who was basically non-existent all first half.

If I don't see Dempsey next game, I'm gonna have to choke a bitch. He really should start ahead of Beasley against Italy. Beasley was playing as if the Czechs had pictures of him and Arenas' wife together. One of the worst WC performances by a US player I've seen in a while. Dempsey has the footskills to take guys on 1-on-1 with confidence. I was disappointed to see Wolff go in, instead of him..

Take Lewis out and put in Bocanegra. Lewis is not a defender, and having him in there for crossing purposes is stupid when you already have Convey ahead of him. At least Cherundolo knows how to play defense..

Either way, what a sorry display by us this afternoon. I would have been fine taking the loss if we had actually put some energy into it. I realize that CR was just better than us, but they, along with Italy and Ghana, actually played like it mattered. The US had no heart today, and it might not be why we lost, but it's certainly why we were never even competent..

I really like Convey, he impressed me in the 2nd half. I think the FIFA ranking has hurt the USA as far as fans go, when you see your side is ranked 4th or 5th in the World you start having certain expectations. Especially from the media it seems, I was shocked that alot of the online media I'd come across had the USA listed as a chance to win along with Brazil, Argentina, England etc.

As fara s Italy vs Ghana, I was so happy in the first half. Since my dad's Italian they've always been my team in the World Cup (because Australia never qualified) but they constantly pissed me off with their defensive play and the completely ridiculous "Del Piero and Totti can't play in the same team because they're too similar" of the last World Cup. They were great to watch in the first half, but as soon as Totti got injured they went back into old habits. I would've prefered to see Del Piero or Gattuso come on to replace him instead of Camoranesi. It'd mean a slight tactical shift but they have more of a presence than Camoranesi does.

Hello my name is Japan and I choked.

Hello my name is Japan and I choked.

wow sam. lol funny

World rankings don't mean shit, your only as good as your performances in big games. USA is nearly always in the top 10 but fail to make it past the rnd of 16.

Brazil v Croatia.....too bad it's at 2:30 am here. Probably gonna watch the France game too. In the meantime i got shitty exams

I have to wake up at 5am for the Brazil Croatia game, DEFINITELY going to be watching it, then the NBA Finals.

Ok, i don't know anything about soccer, but that game i saw last night of Australia vs Japan was fucking inspirational!

Maybe i'm a bit late with this. I just loved it. I haven't watched a full game of soccer without getting bored, but that game was different because i wanted the aussies to win so bad. I just loved it.

Swarchz (or however you spell) was so hard done by by that no-call. And for most of the game i thought Australia were gonna lose.

Which was so frustrating because Australia dominated ball possesion. It just seemed like they were the better team (again, i don't know much about soccer, but that's what it seemed like) but the score didn't represent that. And the aussies were trying so hard but not getting anywhere. So watching that game was like banging your head against a wall.

But it was all worth it to see the end. Fuck me. That was almost a fairy-tale story written script. I was ready to turn the TV off, but the BANG - BANG - BANG! Australia win! Oh my.. GOODNESS what a game.

Seeing how Australia do against Brazil will be fun.

Korea won 2-1, I was rooting for Togo, but the goal from the free kick was awesome. I'm gonna get some rest and wake up for the Croatia game

i really thought Togo would win it. it was pretty interesting game damn Koreans

Yeee it's a good game between France and Switzerland.
Seems like Henry is down on the ground in pain now.
He is off the field.
But besides that did you see that handball when Henry kicked it !
That shit is Bogus.

*EDIT = He is back on his feet now. =D

France totally took control of the game possession-wise from the 25th minute to halftime. They just couldn't finish...they look out of sync. They've gotta give Zidane the ball...good things happen when he has it.

Damn France, they can never score a goal. Henry wasn't too active in this one.

too much french fries

First goal by brazil...they finally decided to show up going into the half.

yeah Croatia almost got out of the hlaf without a goal... but Ronaldo looks a little sluggish out there. Ronaldinho never ceases to amaze me. they said on ESPN he's coming to the US in the summer... FC Barcelona's playing in LA, Houston, NY, and a few more cities.

Fucking Niko Kranjcar,how could he let him alone for even one second?Man he fucking eats to much and can't run.They are playing against fucking Brazil everybody has to be cover there man.