England just looked like they didn't know what they were doing or didn't have any confidence going into those PK's...their body language showed it all. The Keeper did a great job in getting a hand on those Pk's but protugal deserved to win. Rooney really cost them this game as well. That childish play is going to get him nothing but bad publicity after this game.
Every available player on the team has to shoot including the GK - if a team only has 10 players they go back to the first shooter again AND the other team does as well. So if one team has more players left than the other team they do not have to let all their guys shoot.
England had FAR more chances to win this game than Portugal did, but they blew every single one of them. They earned this loss.
Losing a true striker in Rooney really hurt them. Crouch is great off set pieces or when he goes for a header on a cross because of his size, but he can not create a shot on his own or do anything with the ball in the box. They lost Owen and when Rooney played like an idiot that took away all those chances in the box that they could have really done something.
Ughhh...two PK shootouts in 2 qtr finals and two teams that deserved to win lose. England was clearly the better team even with 10 men. Portugal was shameful with all their flopping and non-attack mentality with a one man advantage. That's the cruelness of the beautiful game And that Rooney red card was crap. A yellow maybe. Rooney was being fouled for the time he had control of the ball with two guys pushing and holding him and no freaking foul called. TErrible. GO BRAZIL
I didn't say it, DD did...but regardless either way they would be going home since they are going to face either Brazil or France...and we all know it's going to be Brazil barring some major upset.
The worse was Ronaldo...then the other guy Maniche pretended to get hit in the face really hard and in the replay the guy didn't even touch him but he fell to the ground and started acting really hurt...that was complete BS...i mean it wasn't even close
Portugal has a bunch of thugs. England has a few of brats of their own. Hard to root for either team.
I have yet to see anything from this guy i really like...this is dating back to 2 years ago when i was watching the olympics and they kept hyping him up. The only thing he has really done is shown me he has some great dribbling technique and sick moves...other than that he flops all over the place and hasn't really don't much to seriously impress me unlike someone like Messi or Rooney... Even the refs know he flops a hell of a lot. They just let a lot of plays go becuase they know he was BSing and it was hilarious to see him get up real quick after the no foul so they wouldn't tag him with a yellow card for diving.
I don't agree with that sentiment at all. France has a VERY talented squad that just hasn't gelled together as a team.
This is the first major tourney that England has played this conservative style. They are one of the most exciting teams to watch. They played beautiful soccer in Euro 2004, WC 2002 and even in 98. They just seem to never have good luck. I think they have been done in so many times in major tourneys despite playing beautifully that the coach decided to play ugly b/c it seems to be the way to win...i.e. Greece in euro 2004. The baffling thing is that the EPL, IMO, is the most exciting league in the world. Most every match is up and down, back n forth non stop action. The other problem is that Swen keeps changing the system after every game. Each match it seems he has a new lineup. You can't do that in a major tourney. I am glad he is stepping down after the WC. They need someone who looks like he cares about the team rather than banging young mistresses and being as exciteable as Eddie Griffin. You know who I really miss on England's National team? Paul Scholes, that guy is a great midfielder with mad creativity who can score but I guess he is getting old and not fit so was not included on the team.
Yes i do believe they have a talented team but if it's going to take time to gel when are they going to? They have been playing decent but i don't think they have been playing well enough to beat Brazil right now. Granted Brazil hasn't looked that great either but i still give the edge to Brazil. If France does manage to gel i think it will be an even better matchup.
One thing i didn't understand is why Sven changed the lineup after Owen went down. Before that he was going with Crouch-Owen and Crouch-Rooney. Then when Owen goes down he changes to a lone striker? What's the theory behind that? I think they could have done much better with Rooney and Crouch both being in there. I didn't see a reason for them to change up like that.
I know and that is why it was a scoreless dud of a game, and if Portugal plays with one in the next match, they will be going home. DD
