About the game - it went exactly as I expected. No offense, but I did not expect much from Australia. I also don't think Serbia and Ghana are going to be able to seriously challenge us. Whomever we face in the round of 16 should be manageable as well. The quarterfinal game will be the true test, as it will likely be Argentina and they are pretty damn strong. 50/50. We might bow out in the quarterfinals, but if we beat Argentina, anything is possible.
Gakatron: I will cheer for Australia against Serbia and Ghana. I actually think you could beat them if all goes well (and if you had a good coach). Most of your players play in Europe, I have seen some of them play and they are not too bad. But about the calls today - I don't think they played a major role. We got two yellow cards (deservedly so) for diving, but the yellow cards your players got were well-deserved, the Aussies tried to compensate for the difference in skill by playing overly hard and fouling a lot. The red card was a bad call (should have been a yellow), but the other calls were correct. Good luck for the next two matches.
Mate I agree 100%... we were never going to beat you guys and those calls made no difference and I never said they have but going forward the red does. Man would we love to still have Guus as our coach in this WC.. if he was we would make the round of 16 no doubt.. with Verbeek as coach we will be lucky to score a single goal this world cup... he is just terrible with his defensive formations... and not bringing Scott Macdonald a proven goal scorer in Europe when Kewell isn't even fit is just a stupid decision again.
That was a bad call on Cahill. Can you contest red cards in the World Cup? It seems like with a penalty that stiff, it should be reviewed.
You could get England in the round of 16s if USA nets more on Algeria and Slovenia, but if the Three Lions play like they did saturday, then it should be a Q-finals berth of Germany
I'm never concerned about England. They have a complex when it comes to us. They have not beaten us in a meaningful game since 1966 (when the linesman/ref gifted them the crucial 3-2 goal ).
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As youtube is blocked here in Turkey where I currently am, I can only assume you posted a vid of the 5-1 in Munich from 2001, world cup qualifiers. Remind me...how far did each team go in the tournament afterwards?
Beckham at his top form. He created all the first 3 goals of England and basically decided the outcome of the game.
It's becoming a norm for the European teams. Just go through the French roster and you will be amused by the number of their players who were foreign born.
^^ True. At my house after we watched the MEX-RSA game, we still stayed drinking around and watching the next URU-FRA game; we were joking around at how few FRENCH guys knew their national anthem when the cameras were on them... aren't most of them from their territories? Guadeloupe, caribbean, African colonized countries, etc... ? :grin:
I just noticed that ESPN and UNIVISION both have multiview access to their channels within U-Verse. Press MENU and go to Interactive. You will see "2010 FIFA World Cup" for all ESPN choices. You can view the game in standard definition and listen to the game in Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, or German commentary. I believe these channels are 622 (POR), 623 (JPN), 624 (KOR), 625 (ARA) and 626 (GER). Next game is Monday, June 14th at 6:25 (Netherlands vs. Denmark) for the special language commentary. For Univision, there is a multiview with UNIVISION (10), TELEFUTURA (15), and GALAVISION (3003) at the same time. Both channels have interactive NEWS and GROUPS A-H information and a special calendar to see the upcoming game schedules. All this with U-Verse interactive in your MENU.
Gakatron if it makes you feel better Mexico/USA and Australia have the same amount of World Cup Trophies ZERO. As long as your team competes and gives all their effort what else can you ask for. Germany always beats Mexico and USA in the WC.
Looks like they might be doing something about those annoying horns. http://www.yahoo.com/_ylt=AhZYydmmh...t-yet-be-banned-from-World-Cup?urn=sow,247947
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/soccer/world-cup-2010/06/13/pitch.anger/index.html Players angry over new mixed grass surface POLOKWANE, South Africa, June 13 (Reuters) -- A new mixed synthetic pitch being used for the first time at a World Cup finals was criticized by players on Sunday who say it causes unpredictable bounces and gives goalkeepers particular problems. Both the 1-0 winners of Sunday's Polokwane match Slovenia -- who were propelled to the top of Group C -- and losers Algeria criticised the pitch which contains a mixture of grass and a synthetic fibre. The same kind of surface will be used for matches played at Nelspruit. Algerian defender Majid Bougherra said Slovenia's lone goal would never had gone into the net on a pure grass pitch. The match was settled when skipper Robert Koren's relatively innocuous 79th minute shot bobbled out of Algerian keeper Faouzi Chaouchi's arms. "Sometimes like the goal scored today -- if we had had a normal pitch it would never have gone in," he said. "In the last bounce it went quickly and it changed the thinking of the goalkeeper." Players also complained about the new Jabulani ball being used at the finals, saying it had been particularly difficult to control in a match littered with loose passes. "For the player when we shoot it's a good ball but for the keeper it's horrible," Bougherra said. "In the air sometimes it changes (course) at the last minute so it's very difficult." Man-of-the-match Koren said Saturday's goalkeeping gaffe against the United States also in Group C by England's Robert Green -- on grass -- plus Chaouchi's error were largely due to a capricious ball bounce. Green allowed the U.S. equalizer in a 1-1 draw to run through his fingers from a long-range shot. "It's really difficult for the keepers because one mistake from the keeper and the ball is already in the net," he said. "We saw this yesterday when USA scored against England and we saw today when we scored -- it was with a bit of help." Another seven matches will be played on the mixed synthetic and grass pitches including France against Mexico on June 17 and Greece against Argentina on June 22. Funny enough the grass was engineered here in Canada, you can blame us for your goalkeepers errors :grin: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNe...ccer-100609/20100609?hub=TopStoriesV2&s_name= All World Cup pitches, including practice fields, are covered in turf grown on Manitoba farms by Pickseed Canada. Terry Scott, the director of western sales for the company, told CTV's Canada AM his company has spent years coming up with the perfect product for the world's premier soccer tourney. "This was a four year project for our company, developing the special perennial rye grasses that can handle the kind of activity these particular soccer pitches put it under," Scott said from Winnipeg. "These were bred to handle the higher stress of the activity, the cleats, the tearing up of the grass, they have very quick growth habits, quick recovery habits." In Canada, ideal grass seed mixes contain more blue grasses and fescues, which are better equipped to handle the cold winters. But South Africa's climate is better suited for perennial rye grasses, which grow at a denser rate and create a soccer pitch that is similar to a carpet, Scott said. It also recovers quickly, which is an essential trait for pitches where dozens of elite-level games will be played in a short period of time.
