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Official Results And Standings Thread


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I would be worried about Switzerland, there is always a suprise and the Swiss could be it this time. They have far more skill and pace than Ukraine and could beat Italy depending, Italy has been unimpressive for the most part, their play has been similar to Brazil's in that it lacks pace, interest, and urgency. I think that Switzerland has the chance to beat the Italians out if they can get the bounces and breaks that they didn't get against France.

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I would be worried about Switzerland, there is always a suprise and the Swiss could be it this time. They have far more skill and pace than Ukraine and could beat Italy depending, Italy has been unimpressive for the most part, their play has been similar to Brazil's in that it lacks pace, interest, and urgency. I think that Switzerland has the chance to beat the Italians out if they can get the bounces and breaks that they didn't get against France.

Yes, your right. The underdog of this tournament might be Switzerland just like Korea and Turkey were in 2002. But this doesn't surprise me hearing this from you. Everytime you mention Italy, it's always about how they could possibly get knocked out or lose. Anyways, Italy's game has improved and will only get better as the WC progresses. They are now in the knockout stage and will step up to the plate even though they are playing Australia. They shouldn't underestimate any team now.

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I would take Switzerland to beat Ukraine in the second round. While I'm not sure they've beaten very much in the way of quality opposition to top Group G, I think Ukraine have beaten even less in Group H. But whoever wins that game, they won't beat Italy.

I just get this feeling it's starting to open up for the Azurri.

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I can't decide who of Switzerland or the Ukraine will progress. The best game of the second round looks to be Portugal against the Netherlands - I'm finding it difficult to predict that one too!

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Portugal for me, there, just. Holland have a lot of potential, but their day will come in the future, possibly 2010. Neither side has really impressed me yet, but I think Portugal have more firepower on the pitch and in the dugout.

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Portugal for me, there, just. Holland have a lot of potential, but their day will come in the future, possibly 2010. Neither side has really impressed me yet, but I think Portugal have more firepower on the pitch and in the dugout.

I rather expect a narrow victory of Holland (1-0). I expect that the Dutch are still able to increase their performance while I somehow get the sensation that Portugal has already shown its maximum during the group stages (and IMO, that was not really impressing).

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Yes, your right. The underdog of this tournament might be Switzerland just like Korea and Turkey were in 2002. But this doesn't surprise me hearing this from you. Everytime you mention Italy, it's always about how they could possibly get knocked out or lose. Anyways, Italy's game has improved and will only get better as the WC progresses. They are now in the knockout stage and will step up to the plate even though they are playing Australia. They shouldn't underestimate any team now.

Actually, I think that Australia may beat Italy - it's not the first time that a team lead by Gus Hiddink has overcome the Italians. Italians play rough, and so can the Aussies so no doubt it will be an interesting game.

Switzerland have had a relatively easy road to and in Germany. They've managed to play countries that are traditionally good but are currently duds, eg France, Turkey. The other thing is don't underestimate the Ukraine... I think there is more to see from them and I still have my $$ of Scevshenko as the golden boot

I also think that for the first time, Spain may actually have the goods to go all the way.

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I rather expect a narrow victory of Holland (1-0). I expect that the Dutch are still able to increase their performance while I somehow get the sensation that Portugal has already shown its maximum during the group stages (and IMO, that was not really impressing).

I just have the feeling this tournament has come too early for a Dutch squad with a lot of potential. 2010 may well be their time. Portugal have plenty of good players and, in Scolari, they have a coach who is not afraid of taking big decisions.

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Actually, I think that Australia may beat Italy - it's not the first time that a team lead by Gus Hiddink has overcome the Italians. Italians play rough, and so can the Aussies so no doubt it will be an interesting game.

Switzerland have had a relatively easy road to and in Germany. They've managed to play countries that are traditionally good but are currently duds, eg France, Turkey. The other thing is don't underestimate the Ukraine... I think there is more to see from them and I still have my $$ of Scevshenko as the golden boot

I also think that for the first time, Spain may actually have the goods to go all the way.

Getting through Israel, France, Ireland and Turkey in qualifying and France and Korea in the WC, thats no easy doing. Denmark couldn't handle a similar situation not being able to get through Ukraine, Turkey and Greece.

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Germany 2-0 Sweden

Sweden was the perfect opponent for Germany. A weak defense which makes it easy to score goals and an underachieving offense that is unable to show how vulnerable the German defense is. The game was over after the 2-0 and the red card for Lucic. I did expect the Germans, who took a flying start today, to finish the Swedes off after the red card but they seemed unable to score a few more goals. The Swedes even managed to create chances but gave up after Larsson missed a penalty kick.

All in all a very good first 25 minutes for Germany and a much less impressive second half. Maybe it was the heat.

I have no real idea how good Germany is because they haven't played against decent opposition sofar. They do play better than I've ever seen them. However, I "fear" their defense is to weak to beat Argentina.

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Its not like Argentina has a stellar defensive themselves and their keeper is somewhat of a joke. Argentina got dominated by Cote d'Ivoire in the second half of that game and their defense was unimpressive in their game against Netherlands with most of their defensive starters playing.

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It truly is amazing how quickly a team's performances can change. Against England on Tuesday night, especially in the second half, Sweden played ever so well and had they won (as their performance deserved), we could have had no complaints.

Today, they were awful. And, yet again, the hosts have yet to be properly tested. If, as I suppose most of us expect, Argentina beat Mexico later tonight, Germany will have to improve significantly on Friday afternoon.

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What an exciting game! Although I really fancy seeing Argentina against Germany in the Quarter-Finals, I did end up cheering for Mexico - they wanted a quicker more exciting game and managed to keep the tempo fast for the first half until the Argentinians slowed it down somewhat frustratingly in the second half. Of course Argentina were unlucky not to be 2-1 up when their goal was disallowed as it wasn't actually offside, but the refereeing decision that influenced the outcome the most was the decision not to send Heinze off for his unfair tackle which undoubtedly cost Mexico a really good chance of scoring.

Anyway, Argentina will meet Germany in the Quarter-Final - what a game that could be!!!

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Fantastic game tonight. No doubt in my mind that Heinze should have been sent off at the end of the first half and you have to feel a bit sorry for the Mexicans. But Germany v Argentina on Friday could be a classic.

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Well, as I said already after the Argentina vs. Netherlands match: If Argentina keeps the performance level of this round of 16 match against Mexico, they'll be a quite manageable opponent for Germany.

Nevertheless, I still expect a very tough game for Germany next Friday. But no one should forget: It'll also be a tough game for Argentina -- to play against the home team with a huge home audience in the biggest stadium of this World Cup (Berlin's Olympic Stadium). I somehow get the sensation that our previous opponents were pretty impressed by the audience -- and that their rather weak performances were influenced by that effect.

So I expect an almost dead heat with slight advantages for Germany. It's possible that the winner of that quarterfinal will be determined in a penalty shoot out.

There's one thing I'm already sure of now: I'll be nervous as hell on Friday -- and I guess I'm not the only German who feels that way. These days I notice that there's a significant difference between the last World Cup and this World Cup: In 2002, I took note of the German progress through the final round in quite a calm manner -- since nobody expected in advance to the tournament that the Germans would achieve more than reaching the round of 16 or the quarterfinals, everything which went beyond that was a nice dessert, but actually not absolutely necessary.

But now we went into this tournament with the hope (and maybe the expectation) in our hearts that Michael Ballack would lift the cup into the nightly sky of Berlin on July 9. Even if we knew that our team showed many weaknesses during the past four years, we always thought: "What a great thing would it be if our boys would achieve that miracle in front of their home audience!". And that hope, that reminiscence to the "Wonder of Berne" in 1954, makes everything very difficult for us Germans. You can expect that on Friday we'll be a whole nation being in a funk (or as we in Germany say: we'll have our trousers full).

It's because we know that if we manage to handle Argentina, the gates to the cup are wide open. What a dramatic match it will be!

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While it is 5pm in Germany where the normal working week is between 38 and 45 hours, so....

And its on at 11am here, though I am unemployed and out of school for now so I have no worries, even if I did skipping or ducking would do me fine.

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Why, oh why does that game have to kick off at 4pm? Don't the organisers realise people have to work for a living?

I hope you're not suggesting that the organisers should schedule matches around the needs of a foreign television audience! ;)

Anyway, I thought most workplaces were being really flexible about employees hours during this month - mine are. Although I'm rather worried that my employers will notice that I have been managing to cram a whole days work into the first four hours of the working day so that I can watch the football! :P

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Getting through Israel, France, Ireland and Turkey in qualifying and France and Korea in the WC, thats no easy doing. Denmark couldn't handle a similar situation not being able to get through Ukraine, Turkey and Greece.

I just can't get convinved re: Switzerland. Ukraine have not shown their true form, and I'd like to see them pick up their game in this round. I have a feeling they might treat us to some classic Soviet style football.

Germany vs Argentina. Hmmm. With this offensive Germany, I think this may be the best game of the tournament. And personally, I feel that the winner of this game may very well be the winner of our world cup 2006.

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