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

is it just me or is FIFA against competent refereeing? I think we can unanimously agree that this has been the worst officiating ever.

I know that "winning on the paper" doesn't mean anything, I just wanted to say that we have better players, but then again it doesn't mean anything...

Croatia beat Italy last world cup. So ah, yeah, that paper must be on fire now.

Yeah, but Croatia is out of the World Cup this year and we're not...

Korea beat Italy last world cup. So ah, yeah, that paper must be on fire now.

We all know Korea won that match only because of that fucking referee...

And in an ironic twist of fate, Italy won Australia all because of some fucking referee...And even more ironic, on a very similar play. Except the ref in the game against Korea said it was a dive, and in the Australia game the ref said it wasn't.

Korea vs Italy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvLs1AU8 ... 02%20totti
Australia vs Italy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_dGmcrr ... ia%20italy

And we all know what Italy does in their practices...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak1YXZ6_ ... 20practice

Last edited by Bang on Tue Jun 27, 2006 6:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Shitest. Call. Ever!!!

I saw that video this morning on Sunrise, pretty funny.

My thoughts from a Kiwiroo....

On the game....

1a. Italian player should NOT have been given a red card. He should have only got a yellow card.
1b. I was upset with the red card as I knew Australia would now NOT win the game. Australia has always played better with their backs to the wall. Now that they had to win with a numerical advantage, I just foresaw the the Socceroos would not get the job done.
2. Viduka was mediocre, as per usual.
3. Hiddink's late game strategy seemed off, although not the first time in the tournament that this has occurred. He had 2 subs left & didn't use them. I would've loved to have seen Kennedy in there.
4. Without Kewell, Australia lacked that something special. They could've really used him. Same with Emerton who impressed me with his speed & general skills.
5. Schwarzer was his usual solid self.
6a. It was obviously NOT a penalty.
6b. I do not blame Neill for it, although this is soccer. If you're a defender & you leave your feet, then you are at the mercy of the ref (& your flopping opponent).
7. In the end, I think that Australian had a golden opportunity that they shouldn't have had (11-10 advantage due to Italian player being wrongly sent off). The Italian defense & goalkeeping was too good. Australia was good & would have been worthy winners, but this is soccer & these things happen. I predicted a downfall to Ukraine for the Aussies, so maybe it's good for their esteem to not advance, as stupid as that sounds.

On their tournament....

1. They came in with a reputation of being physical (thanks largely to the Japanese whinging before the first game) & the referees punished them, even if they were harshly done by more often than not.
2. Japan game was great.
3. Cahill seemed better as a sparkplug off the bench, but I've thought that for a couple of years now.
4. Hiddink's strategy wasn't that good, for the whole tournament. I think he gets a lot of credit. Maybe allowing the Socceroos to believe they could do it was his greatest help to them, not his in-game strategy (e.g. Japan game - many players were played out of their natural position; Brazil game - no Kennedy ; Croatia - changing a keeper that got them to this stage & was playing well again ; Italy - not making late substitutions. No point waiting until extra time as there was none ). I do respect the job he did, but it was far from flawless.
5. Their lack of depth shone through. Without key players like Kewell (injury) & Emerton (card suspension), the team didn't really have enough quality bodies to roll with. When you only have 14 or 15 players in your squad that you can trust to perform, then it is a problem.
6. Top 16 in the World is great. Considering they're ranked in the low 40s & got out of a decent group, it was a great job.

On their future....

1. Move to Asian Confederation is great move as means more games, more tourneys & a much easier route to the World Cup. There's no reason Australia shouldn't be a fixture in the field of 32. Wonder how the All Whites will do against the likes of Uruguay
2. The lack of depth will hopefully not be so much of a problem as more young talent flows through. It'll take a while, but it will happen.
3. Hopefully they drop that dickhead Viduka. He hasn't had it for a couple of years now. All he does now is use his strength to tie up the defender & try to do a header. His finishing ability with either foot is pretty dismal for a World Class striker & the rest of his ball skills were pretty ordinary too. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh on the captain, I just don't rate him anymore. I thought the Socceroos looked a lot better when guys like Kewell were attacking or Chipperfield was running up the left flank, not when they're throwing in a high ball for Viduka. Oh yeah, Viduka can't kick penalty shots either.

I could probably say more but I've babbled on long enough. To all you Aussies reading this, this is just my opinion on what I saw & have seen & hope to see. I'm not a soccer fanatic, although I have followed the game since I was a kid, so don't go too harsh on me. They're just opinions after all

I agree with what you said about Guus. I think he gets alot of un-due credit, and I've found his formations and substitution patterns questionable at best. I mean Materazzi was the tallest person on the field, he gets sent off and Gattuso goes back to cover... i.e the shortest person on the field. I don't know why they didn't bring Kennedy on to exploit the sudden height advantage, or even just to stop Cannavaro being able to focus on Viduka and Viduka alone. We're on the map now though, so this will make it easier to find a World class coach.

I know that "winning on the paper" doesn't mean anything, I just wanted to say that we have better players, but then again it doesn't mean anything...

Croatia beat Italy last world cup. So ah, yeah, that paper must be on fire now.

Yeah, but Croatia is out of the World Cup this year and we're not...

Korea beat Italy last world cup. So ah, yeah, that paper must be on fire now.

We all know Korea won that match only because of that fucking referee...

And in an ironic twist of fate, Italy won Australia all because of some fucking referee...And even more ironic, on a very similar play. Except the ref in the game against Korea said it was a dive, and in the Australia game the ref said it wasn't.

Korea vs Italy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvLs1AU8 ... 02%20totti
Australia vs Italy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_dGmcrr ... ia%20italy

And we all know what Italy does in their practices...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak1YXZ6_ ... 20practice

Believe me, I'm not happy Italy won... I would a little bit if it was a legit win, but it wasn't and the thing that makes me sick is commentors saying that Italy played better than Australia, which is absolutely false.

X, you're right about Viduka, I hate that fat bastard . But yeah, he has lost his touch.

Brazil 2 Ghana 0 for now... I want Ghana to win this game!

wow, Refs are at it again....way to go douchebags, just like Brazils nuts.

Yeah, everyone nowadays licks Brazil's feet...

Last edited by Joe' on Wed Jun 28, 2006 2:27 am, edited 1 time in total.

Ronaldo 15 goals

3rd goal shouldnt have stood either......leg was too high

3rd goal shouldnt have stood either......leg was too high

Ghana played better, but Brazil is still the best in the world at putting the ball in the back of the net.

I just wish Essien could have played. I too was rooting for Ghana.

I came in rooting for Brasil, but Ghana definetly outplayed them in this game. Second goal for Brasil shouldn't have counted, and who knows, that could have changed the entire momentum of the game. Dida was great at keeper, he saved several balls that could have tied it up for Ghana. Ronaldinho isn't living up to all the hype he's been getting, I was hoping to see more from him... they'd better step it up soon or it could be an early upset.

What a game! I'll be rooting for France in their game against Brazil...it would be awesome to see Zidane go out on top.

And France goes through with a 3-1 win over Spain, congrats France. Happy to see Viera get a goal, disappointing game with Theirry Henry though.

Yeah, nice goal from Zidane! He's my favorite player right now, too bad he's going to retire after the World Cup

Theirry "Mr. Offside" Henry

Nice game. Henry flopped but, who cares? (besides the spanish team, of course )

I dont think Ghana played as great as people think. How does alot of meaningless possession and long shots that most times ended up in the parking lot equate to having a great game? Sure Dida made some saves but many times he had forever to watch the ball and guide it into his hands because they were from a distance.

Key Stats from Ghana match:

SHOTS

Brazil: 11 (10 on goal, wasting 1)
Ghana:18 (7 on goal, wasting 11)

What do you derive from that?


Its also very nitpicky to say the third goal shouldnt count because his foot was high. It was perfectly fine, the keeper didnt even complain though he didnt have reason to(not even the ESPN commentator who spent the entire match talking crap about them and not the match itself, as they scored 3 goals and won the match, didnt complain).


I think most people expect Brazil to win every match 5-0 or something which is just plain ridiculous. Anybody who thinks Brazil played so badly must have watched the ESPN presentation and swallowed all that rubbish they were saying. I fail to see how Ghana played that great to be getting all this praise. The one time Brazil had anything really to worry about was against Japan when they went down 1-0 and what did we see after that, 4 goals in roughly 50 minutes. People talk about how Brazil isnt putting in effort but maybe if opponents came with something better then they would. If you can win this easily/effortlessly then why not?


Its sad that they supposedly played bad in every game except one yet they have a 10-1 goal advantage over their opponents. Thats tied for most goals in the tournament and also 2nd in terms of goals allowed. 2nd to the Swiss who are out. Argentina supposedly is playing so great yet they have an inferior ratio.


Brazil also has the second most shots on goal (36 on goal out of 61 shots) in the tournament unlike other teams who fire away aimlessly in the crowds. What that shows is they are picking their spots wisely, waiting for the best possible opportunity. Germany has the most but its 38 of 78; thats 17 more shots for for 2 more on goal.


They whine on tv about how selfish they are playing selfishly and it looks like some guys dont like each other yet the have 9 assists on 10 goals, tied for best with Argentina. Why would they want to pass it up if they cant get over their ego?


Expectations on this team is ridiculous. No team in this day and age can beat everyone 5-0 so we shouldnt expect that out of this one. They are great yes, but so are many other teams in this tournament. This isnt qualifying, this is the World Cup which is supposedly hosting the best 32 teams in the world...at least arguably so. I personally feel they could play better but its not like they are as shitty as they say. They are right there with any other team so far so if they are shit, everyone else is.

edit: I also believe their second goal was offside but I dont see how if they called it that it would change the game.

Brazil was leading werent they? Yes.

Was it an equalizing goal? .No

The game would go exactly as it was going. Why would they be disheartened, lose their flow and throw away the game for that?
We can also go back and look at the offside that was called on Ronaldo before his goal where he was onside and about to light up the net.

Just remembered that dive Adriano took which looked more like he got tripped up. It coulda been 3-0 before 15 minutes.


edit again: about the Italy goal, I feel the ref had to call that. I'd prefer if he didnt but its no surprise, thats obstruction in a way because if he wasnt there then he wouldnt have to jump over him and they woulda had a clearer chance. It wasnt as bad a call as I thought it would be. From what I heard he ran straight into the guy deliberately but he really couldnt do anything else since after he made the cut and beat his man the defender was laying there between him and the ball without any chance to make a play on it. It was a bang bang play to me. Oh well, 4 more years.

Last edited by dada on Wed Jun 28, 2006 12:46 pm, edited 4 times in total.

I have respect for Zidane for what he has done in the past, but he's nothing more than a liability to the French team these days. He had like 3 flashes of his old self in the game, but I'd rather see someone like Dhorasoo play.

Ronaldinho isn't living up to all the hype he's been getting

The Brazilian team selects the biggest stars thrown together with a lineup where as many big name players as possible can play. The club teams select their players based on their needs and play/practice together the whole year. It's basically something like the "Dream" Team nowadays, no chemistry whatsoever.
Obviously you're right with what you said, he hasn't been playing like the Ronaldinho as seen in the CL and Spanish League, but on the other hand it's also very understandable that it takes time to mesh (which I think will happen just in time).

I have respect for Zidane for what he has done in the past, but he's nothing more than a liability to the French team these days

Sorry but I have to disagree here. Zidane is the key for France's midfield. The ball moves on the midfield thanks to Zidane, I don't think France would have had that many goal opportunities today against Spain without him on the pitch, the ball would have reached the strikers less.
Of course it's not only his merit, he has great players around him in the midfield, such as Vieira and Ribery. By the way, nowadays you don't see 35-year-old players play like Zidane.

He can still play but he slows them down too much and a lot of his "brilliant" passes don't actually arrive. So I'd say try to speed up the tempo with someone maybe less talented but faster.

However it's always nice to have a player in there getting ALL the calls ALL the time..

Let me to give a couple of thoughts on last two games.

Brasil-Ghana: At the end, i felt sorry for the Black Stars, simply because, overal, they were better. I completly dissagree with dada on "[b]I dont see how if they called it that it would change the game." line. It would change the game a lot. When you receive an offside goal in last minute of the first half, despite being better rival, it kills you. Not to mention that Ghana played without their best player.

Spain-France: I expected a better game, but it was nice too watch. Not too boring, 4 goals, comeback after 0:1... I'm happy for Zidan, he might be old, but he's still an awsome player. That Ribery dude, he's quite of a refreshment, small, quick, has technique. He'll be a beast in near future.

Now, i would like to say something about whole referee thing(s).
A Spanish referee gave a non existing last minute winning penalty to Italy. The day after, Italian referee was in charged in Spain-France game. He gave a penalty to Spain. And the leading guy in FIFA's referee comeete (spell?) is a Spanish .
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