Indeed,They beat spain twice. Ok i'm scared, i really hope we beat ivory coast otherwise we might have a problem.(i know we will beat them).
Rafa and Borgetti did play in the first match, Borgetti is not gonna play today because he is injured, but rafa will play. VIVA MEXICO!!!!
He clearly hit the keeper. He had enough time to avoid that but chose to drag that leg... These Haitian commentators are hilarious. I have no idea what they're saying, but they're certainly pulling for Cote d'Ivoire to win this game.
Totally disagree, you can see from the replay that it was not intentional. The ref has been horrible. Ivory Coast have had some really bad calls go against them. That free kick was friggin amazing, what a shot .
Iran and Angola as your first 2 matches.... yeah, group seeding doesn't matter... LOL Go Tri Coloros !! DD
WHOA. Did you watch the entire game or just probably the end...? Rafa Marquez was pushed without a foul called for a penalty in the first half. Borgetti could never find the ball in the air. I think they WILL play the entire game today. EDIT: david_rocket just posted that reminder that Jared Borgetti is out because of a leg injury. Vamos, IRAN! (tomorrow, I mean )
No way, he was in a full sprint, there was nothing he could do and he couldn't pull his leg as he was in mid stride when van der Saar went down - he had no safe alternative and then BARELY tapped the keeper. The commentators on ESPN2 were pretty unanimous and unequivocal that it was a horrendously bad decision by the refereree.
Start CHING to win headers and loose balls... bring in Donovan for a fresh-legged spark in the second half... trust me... TRUST ME. Donovan should be U.S.'s Neuville... the German striker has been Jurgen Klinsman's lucky charm ALL the time... this is Landon's chance...
http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news;_y...F?slug=ap-wcup-italy-us-war&prov=ap&type=lgns Italy takes exception to U.S. 'war' comments By ANDREW DAMPF, AP Sports Writer June 15, 2006 DUISBURG, Germany (AP) -- If the United States considers its next game "war," Italy is ready. Even if the Azzurri believe statements made by U.S. forward Eddie Johnson were a little over the top. ADVERTISEMENT "We'll do our talking on the field. That's what we're here to do," forward Vincenzo Iaquinta said Thursday. "But if they consider it war, then it will be war for us, too." The American team was to spend Thursday and Friday nights at Ramstein Air Base outside Kaiserslautern, where the United States plays Italy on Saturday. Johnson said Wednesday that he hoped some of the troops' spirit would transfer over to the U.S. team. "It's like us in the World Cup. We're here for a war," the 22-year-old forward said. "We came here to battle, we came here to represent our country." The Americans are coming off a 3-0 loss to the Czech Republic and need a win to avoid elimination. Italy opened with a comfortable 2-0 win over Ghana in Group E. "A war seems a bit exaggerated but we'll prepare ourselves appropriately," striker Alberto Gilardino said. "We're not underestimating any of our opponents. This is the game of their lives. We have to go out and play our game to bring home three points." Gilardino added that he thought "Johnson was only referring to the competitive aspect of war." Johnson was asked whether he was comparing a sporting event to a war. "Yeah," he responded. "Whenever you put your jersey on and you look at your crest and the national anthem's going on, and you're playing against a different country, it's like you do or die, it's survival of the (fittest) over 90 minutes-plus. We're going to go out there and do whatever we've got to do, make tackles, do the things when the referee's not looking. ... to get three points." The war in Iraq was widely unpopular in Italy and new Italian Premier Romano Prodi is working out a timetable for pulling Italy's troops out of Iraq by year's end. Previous premier Silvio Berlusconi, a strong ally of President Bush, sent in some 3,000 troops to help with reconstruction after the ouster of Saddam Hussein. More than half that number of Italian soldiers are still in Iraq. "We know they'll be watching and want to do well for them, too," Gilardino said. Extra security is being prepared for the game. "I hope it's not a game at risk, the stadium will be full and our families will be there, too," Gilardino said. Updated on Thursday, Jun 15, 2006 1:29 pm EDT
the Ivory Coast game was amazing... sadly they lost ... now i only have ghana to support... i hope they can beat the czech
According to this Guardian article, Argentina's reserve team beats their first-team 3-0 in practice! http://football.guardian.co.uk/worldcup2006/story/0,,1798740,00.html Pekerman stands his ground as Maradona adds to the clamour for Messi Richard Williams Friday June 16, 2006 The Guardian A little blue mini-bus puttered down the street in the Bavarian town of Herzogenaurach, the sound of chanting and fists banging on the sides emerging from the boisterous young men inside. That was Argentina's Under-20 team, and minutes later they were followed through the entrance of the Herzogs Park hotel by a coach containing the more sedate first-team squad on their way back from their last full-scale training before today's match against Serbia & Montenegro. As the gates closed behind them a swarm of sweating journalists and photographers gathered for the daily press conference, hoping to hear the latest in the Lionel Messi saga. Article continues Messi, apparently fully recovered from the thigh injury he suffered in Barcelona's game at Chelsea in February, was left on the bench throughout Argentina's opening 2-1 win over the Ivory Coast. So far their coach José Pekerman has resisted a campaign inviting him to make use of the 18-year-old whom Diego Maradona considers to be his natural heir. "We're not going to have our progress determined by public opinion or the press," Pekerman said of Messi's return to fitness. "If it went badly, the only one to pay the price would be the boy. Because Messi is still only a boy." The coach added yesterday: "We can't predict anything. We have to make the decision according to what happens. He's improving all the time and the tournament has only just begun." Much of the clamour is coming from Europe, where Messi made his initial impact. He moved from his Rosario home to Barcelona at the age of 13, and came to his native country's attention only when he captained the Under-20 team to victory in their World Cup in Holland last year, before being sent off for using an elbow less than a minute into his senior debut as a substitute against Hungary last August. Messi says his injured thigh has completely healed, adding for public consumption that he is happy to wait his turn. But his presence is a constant reminder to Pekerman and, when the reserves beat the first team 3-0 in a practice match on Tuesday, he scored one of the goals. His case is much like that of Ronaldo in 1994, when Carlos Alberto Parreira included the 17-year-old phenomenon in the squad that travelled to the United States but kept him on the bench despite the entreaties of virtually the entire population of Brazil, including the president. Maradona, a regular visitor to Herzogenaurach, would like to see Messi back in the team straight away. "He's not just good, he's special," the former golden boy said, "and compared to the rest he's much faster." Yesterday Peckerman indicated Messi will be on the bench again today, after treatment for a knock on his priceless left foot during training on Tuesday. Some of his former Under-20 team- mates were in the mini-bus that preceded the senior squad into the hotel grounds and they were in such high spirits because they had just held the first team to a goalless draw in a 30-minute practice match played behind closed doors at the Adidas sports centre. The mood is in sharp contrast with that observed four years ago in Japan, when the Argentinian economy was in meltdown and the country's footballers went to the World Cup feeling only they could rescue the morale of a country whose people were beating their fists in vain against the locked doors of the banks containing their disappearing savings. Life is a little better for the average Argentinian now and confidence was more obvious than desperation in the way their team dealt with the Ivory Coast's robust challenge. Outside the Argentina camp there is a general agreement, particularly among the players of other countries here, that the men in the celeste y blanco shirts produced the most convincing performance of the first round of games, given the strength of their opponents. Their organisation, competitive spirit and depth of resources made a powerful impression on fellow professionals, who see this squad as worthy heirs to the champions of 1978 and 1986. But in and around the team hotel there is no such comfortable consensus and yesterday Pekerman confirmed the change he had made during training on Wednesday. Out goes Esteban Cambiasso, leaving Javier Mascherano as the sole defensive midfielder in front of the back four. In comes Luis "Lucho" González playing wide on the right while Maxi Rodriguez switches to the left. This changes the formation from 4-2-2-2 to a more aggressive 4-1-3-2, with Juan Román Riquelme, the play-making No10, now flanked by two assistants. "The idea is to manage the ball better, to control the tempo and to get up the field with more surprise," González said. "We know we find it hard sometimes when we don't have the ball. I can also help the team on the creative side." England may be comforted to know even the Argentinians see the heat as troublesome. "We've been training today at the same time as the next match to get acclimatised but we know it's going to be tough," Fabio Coloccini, the Deportivo La Coruña defender, said. "It's also good that in Gelsenkirchen, where we're going to play, it's a degree or two cooler." Pablo Aimar, the little Valencia No10 who understudied Ariel Ortega in 2002, is now doing the same for Riquelme. "There are six games left," Aimar said, "and hopefully we can all bring something to them."
