Root for Zizou. The guy is phenomenal. I did not hear the rumor about ronaldo being gone but he will be public enemy #1 in England. I hear that V. Nistelrooy may ne heading to Inter Milan, which would suck b/c I love Man U and Ruud is one of my favorite players. Ronaldinho played midfield the entire tourney. As already mentioned, coaches game planned for him but they do so in La Liga as well. I think he was being too passive. He even said it in the interviews that he wanted to place the team's ultimate goal over his personal brilliance which ironically ended his team's chance at the Cup. Zidane was writefully written off. The guy is an amazing player and a legend for sure but he had declined considerably. He has not been controlling matches and has lost his pace with Real Madrid. He was not great in Euro 2004 and did not look great in the group stages of this WC. But a player of his caliber is able to take his game to another level at times. The past two games he played were phenomenal and hopefully he can replicate it two more times. Michelle Platini was also phenomenal and is a legend but I felt Zidane surpassed him when he carried France to the '98 World cup and then cemented it by winning Euro 2000. As great as Platini was he was never able to win the big prize. Platini is up there with the greats of the game but I would put Zidane a step ahead.
To me the 98 world cup, it was more of team effort from the French team. Zidane was fantasitic in the final, but I didnt come away impressed that he's reached Maradona's level. Put Maradona on any team, that team was going to compete for championship, the same cant be said for Zidane. Platini was unbelievable too, he did lead France to win Euro cup. The 82 and 86 world cup had a lot of good teams and great players, sorta like the NBA from mid 80's to early 90's
Brazil didnt miss showboat like Robinio, they sorely missed Emerson. The middle field for Brazil was a diaster in that game. France has Viera and Makelele, a strong strong defensive support. Who Brazil had. It's not enough to only have pretty boys like Ronaldiniho, they need players like Emerson, Dunga, the tireless workers.
Villa Mir lost. Ronaldo will have to stay in Man U next season. It is gonna be interesting! http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=reu-realpresident&prov=reuters&type=lgns
There's something special about the German city Dortmund. Saw a Reuters report on ESPN that Italy will make history if it beats Germany in Dortmund, where German have a 13-0-1 all time record -- the only draw was in 1977 against Wales. What the Reuters fails to mention is that Germany will also make history if it defeats Italy tomorrow. The Azzurri holds the unbeaten record 2-0-2 in World Cup matches against Germany. To counter the obvious bias from the Reuters, I am rooting for the Squadra Azzurri. Witness the Italian glory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bwzttm50Db0&search=italy 1982
This is going to be a great game...i have a feeling France will dominate on the other end but the Italy - Germany game is going to be a whole different story....im really looking forward to tomorrow.
http://sport.monstersandcritics.com...e_will_win_the_World_Cup_-_according_to_stats From Monsters and Critics.com World Cup 2006 Features Italy or France will win the World Cup - according to stats By John Bagratuni Jul 2, 2006, 19:00 GMT Hamburg - If statistics are anything to go by, Italy or France will win the World Cup although hosts Germany are not fully out of the running. Football history also suggests that Portugal need to reverse several trends if they want to continue beyond the semi-finals. Italy have never lost against Germany in a competitive match heading into their semi-final encounter in Dortmund on Tuesday. Four games ended in draws, in group games at Euro 1988 and Euro 1996, and at the World Cup in 1962 and 1978. Italy won the other two: 4-3 in the famous 1970 World Cup semi-final and 3-1 in the 1982 final. If Italy make the final the statistics will also favour them. Italy beat a European team on each occasion when they lifted the trophy (1934 vs Czechoslovakia, 1938 vs Hungary and 1982 vs Germany) Their only defeats in World Cup finals came against Brazil, 1970 and 1994. Germany, for their part, have moved ahead of Brazil with 11 semi- final berths in 16 appearances. They have never lost a match in Dortmund but must defy the odds against Italy if they want to make an eighth appearance in the final, which would beat Brazil's seven. Germany are also aiming to become the first nation to win the World Cup twice at home. Of the other three two-time hosts, Italy won in 1934 and went out in the 1990 semis, France were ousted in the 1938 quarter-finals before lifting the trophy in 1998 while Mexico were eliminated in the quarter-finals in 1970 and 1986. Italy accounted for France in 1938 and Mexico in 1970, while a victory against Germany on Tuesday would confirm this trend. Portugal, meanwhile, are in their second semi following 1966, losing to later champions England. In this respect, a French win in their match Wednesday in Munich could be an indication that France will go on to lift the trophy. France won their European titles in 1984 and 2000 after semi-final victories against Portugal, 3-2 and 2-1, both in extra-time. In the case of a France vs. Italy final, France could have an edge based on the teams\' results at big events. Italy won the first two games, 3-1 in the 1938 quarters and 2-1 in the 1978 group stage, but the following three went to France, 2-1 in the round of 16 in 1986, 4-3 on penalties on the 1998 quarter-finals and 2-1 in extra-time in the Euro 2000 final. France also hold a 1-0 record in World Cup finals from the 3-0 triumph over Brazil in 1998. But then again, as pointed out, France have never lost a World Cup final against a European team. However, should France run into Germany, the Germans could have the upper end, looking at their semi-final wins from 1982 on penalties and 2-0 in 1986. France won the third-place match 6-3 between them in 1958. Germany also stand a chance to at least make the final because there has been only one previous occasion since World War II when neither they nor Brazil reached the World Cup final - in 1978 when Argentina beat the Netherlands. It is the fourth World Cup following 1938, 1966 and 1982 that only European teams are in the semi-finals, confirming the trend that the South American powerhouses can only win outside Europe - the only exception being Brazil at the 1958 edition in Sweden. However, European teams have never won the World Cup outside the Old Continent, which could give Brazil, Argentina and company some hope ahead of 2010 in South Africa and 2014 in South America (likely Brazil). But for now, the World Cup in Germany has a familiar European ring and the Germans knew even long before the tournament and euphoria around Juergen Klinsmann's team that the title is theirs. After all, its 54 x 74 - 1990 = 2006 - a simple mathematical calculation around Germany's previous titles 1954, 1974 and 1990. © 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur © Copyright 2003 - 2005 by monstersandcritics.com. This notice cannot be removed without permission.
Germany lost Frings for the Semis...REfs caught him throwing a punch after the game. Why don't they correct all the BS cards they are throwing if they are into righting wrongs? I heard someone high up in FIFA was critical of the amount of cards that were being thrown...
Speaking of refs. They posted the names of the refs for the Semi finals: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_FIFA_World_Cup#Semi-finals Remember the name Jorge Larrionda ?
Heard something funny on 790 this morning. They said if some of these guys in the world cup keep playing well, they might be taken into consideration for NFL punting or kicking jobs. Now that would be a nice promotion, going from soccer to the NFL!
t considering most of them will make a lot more money in soccer than they will as an NFL punter or kicker hahah....
HAHAHAHAHA that's funny!!!!!!! NFL >>>>>>>> SOCCER LOLOLOLOL!!!!!1 SOCCER SUCKS HAOMGHAHA 11¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡FUTBOL ES STUPIDO!!!!!!!!11
Do you know what the pathetic part is: They reviewed the video again, because Italia made a complaint, yes the same italia that didn't have anything to do with that match. And now Frings is suspended for one game, and germany has to play against: yes you are right ITALIA The guy that was supossed to be hit by frings, Cruz said he didn't even notice it. If they suspend frings because they think the ref made a mistake they should also take the goal of italia against the aussies back. Ok after this i really hope the final will be Germany-France
Is it true? How much does a NFL kicker make? If a soccer player plays well in the world cup, I think he will be bought by a top level European team (if he is not in one already) and get a contract close to what an average NFL quarterback can make. And I believe the skillset of a soccer player and a football kicker is very different. Many soccer players can kick a stationary ball long and accurate under pressure. But only a handful of them have the many other necessary skills to make it to the big stage.
Here's a video of the supposed punch by Frings. http://youtube.com/watch?v=JwMpaKiRyD0&mode=related&search=frings punch
Not sure if this is posted or not, but it's funny... Italy Training Camp If the FIFA management was smart enough, they should make every best endeavour to avoid a Italy-Portugal finals. Or it will be a 1-0 match, after PK shoot-out!
