Stu 33 Report post Posted June 10, 2006 Yes, but let's face it: If England really wants to win the cup, it has to show a lot more. That was no champion-like performance. But there's comfort for you: Germany also played a terrible group stage in Mexico in 1986 (1-1 against Uruguay, 2-1 against Scotland and 0-2 against Denmark) but advanced to the final nevertheless and at least became Vice World Champion. True, and I'm sure they will. Paraguay have a habit of making it to the second round - I'm just glad that the game is over and that England has won it. England were really good in the first half though - a lot of quality football. We'll see what Sweden can do against Trinidad, it's just started. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Faster 545 Report post Posted June 10, 2006 Stu - It was a Spanish CONCACAF ref, so your thoughts on him are valid. Being in CONCACAF you know how terrible and bias the refs are in this region. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
colin 0 Report post Posted June 10, 2006 England has take a full 3 points in this match with 1-0.. So what u all feel? http://soccerfeast.com btw, there are some prediction match score and player may help u to predict GROUP C match. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Quintana 0 Report post Posted June 10, 2006 It sure was the most boring game so far. England was far from impressive and Paraguay seemed powerless. The second half was terrible to watch for a neutral like myself. The ref was a disgrace and Owen played very poorly. Come on T&T! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stu 33 Report post Posted June 10, 2006 Sweden 0 - 0 Trinidad and Tobago OMG!!! Nobody predicted that result! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olympian2004 511 Report post Posted June 10, 2006 Well... Who was it who said recently that this World Cup would not become another tournament of surprises? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Faster 545 Report post Posted June 10, 2006 That game was terrible, God hope CIV-ARG will be more interesting. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rob. 2038 Report post Posted June 10, 2006 I don't agree. It was an interesting game for the "neutral". T&T played out of their skins. And there weren't a lack of shots despite the scoreline. The England game, however, wasn't great. Happy with the result though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Faster 545 Report post Posted June 10, 2006 I don't agree. It was an interesting game for the "neutral". T&T played out of their skins. And there weren't a lack of shots despite the scoreline. The England game, however, wasn't great. Happy with the result though. I found both games to be tiresome and dull. Sweden offered some excitement but then it started to become apparent that the Swedes were trying to hard and forcing it a little too much. England and Paraguay both had some excitement, but England failed to created to excitement through the flow of the game and Paraguay never got into a comfortable pace. In comparison to yesterday's these games were polar opposites. (BTW - I am never neutral) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stu 33 Report post Posted June 10, 2006 I thought the Sweden/Trinidad game was exciting - far more so than England this morning. Faster - I'm not surprised you never manage to be neutral with a geneology as complex as yours! Groups A and B were two of the groups that were supposedly relatively straight forward ones to predict, but with Poland losing yesterday and Sweden drawing today they are still completely wide open and those teams who many thought would not make it out of the first round could surprise - I think Poland's chances now are very limited. Group C was the group that was most difficult to predict - I wonder what will happen this evening! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
arwebb 133 Report post Posted June 10, 2006 Delighted with both the results so far today. I thought England looked sharp in the first half against Paraguay and looked threatening enough to beat them by perhaps three or four goals. Second half, we lost the midfield battle (the central midfield area needs to be looked at), and with the substitution of Owen (I'm amazed that was tactical). we lost our outlet up front. That said, for all Paraguay's possession, I felt they rarely threatened our goal. As for the referee, it looked as though he spent more time working on his appearance than he did on understanding the laws of the game. A very poor performance. Trinidad and Tobago - absolutely magnificent. As has already been said, they played as if their lives depended on it. They were helped, in part, by a poor Sweden performance. I also have to say I was disappointed with the sending off. Challenges that win the ball cleanly, as the challenge which earned John his second yellow card and the red, should not be punished like this. That was a perfectly good, fair challenge. I sympathise with the referee, because he is only following the FIFA directive. This always happens at every World Cup - FIFA decide they want something clamped down on, so we get a lot of stupid red cards. Here was another. I just wish FIFA would let the players play and the referees officiate properly and sensibly, without issuing directives which just spoil the game. Now for the big game of the day - Argentina v Ivory Coast. Come on Ivory Coast! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rob. 2038 Report post Posted June 10, 2006 I drew the Argies (as well as Saudia Arabia) in our sweepstake, so I won't mind if they win. That said, I'm still cheering on the Ivory Coast! Now, for the second half..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
arwebb 133 Report post Posted June 10, 2006 My money is rapidly slipping away. The 5/1 on an Ivory Coast win was just too tempting. Come on boys! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
arwebb 133 Report post Posted June 10, 2006 Drogba gives us hope with nine minutes to go. Come on Ivory Coast! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Faster 545 Report post Posted June 10, 2006 I can not believe that the Argentines got away with that much time wasting without even a warning. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
arwebb 133 Report post Posted June 10, 2006 Never mind. A super game. Argentina looked superb going forward, but they were shaky at the back at times. I thought the Ivorians were a bit unlucky, but they showed they are going to bring a lot to this tournament. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Faster 545 Report post Posted June 10, 2006 So far I only have 4 of a possible 15 points in my pool, I ain't doing well, but not many got a lot of points from the Poland and Sweden game Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stu 33 Report post Posted June 10, 2006 Best game so far - both teams have set the standard for this World Cup. Pity the Ivorians couldn't score again, they didn't deserve to leave empty handed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
arwebb 133 Report post Posted June 10, 2006 Agreed. They'll certainly win at least one game if they play like that against either Holland or Serbia and Montenegro. Better finishing could see Argentina in trouble, as well as they played offensively. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Faster 545 Report post Posted June 10, 2006 Agreed. They'll certainly win at least one game if they play like that against either Holland or Serbia and Montenegro.Better finishing could see Argentina in trouble, as well as they played offensively. I agree that it was a wonderful game, though I am still not a fan of the South American style. I was really impressed with the Ivorian defence, it made mistakes, but was far better then most African ones I have seen. I think that Drogba's goal coulod be important in final standings. I think the elephants are in good shape against Netherlands and Serbia. Tomorrow does not look like a good day for matches, I am not excepting much from the Iran-Mexico game, the Angola-Portugal game could get dirty quickly and Netherlands-Serbia will probably be like the English game. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
arwebb 133 Report post Posted June 10, 2006 I'm also not expecting much from Mexico v Iran, but Holland v Serbia and Montenegro should be a good game and Angola v Portugal should give us some real fireworks, given their history. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rob. 2038 Report post Posted June 11, 2006 A Frankfurt player confirms that Paul Robinson (England and Tottenham goalkeeper) is the first player who hit the screen with a ball at Frankfurt Waldstadion. According to Doo-Ri Cha, a player at Eintracht Frankfurt, his team mates wanted to reach the screen with a kick, and had a bet after training sessions. But no one succeeded, although they tried hard until they felt strain on their hamstring. Cha was stunned at Robinson's goal kick which hit the screen yesterday. Well done Robbo. I bet he aimed for it, it's not like he had much else to do! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
arwebb 133 Report post Posted June 11, 2006 What he had to do he did safely and competently, as he always seems to do. I've got a lot of time for Paul Robinson as a man, because he was absolutely superb with us Pontoonites when we played Spurs this season. He certainly showed Alan Shearer a few things on how to behave with the public. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Quintana 0 Report post Posted June 11, 2006 A mediocre performance but at least we won. We do need to improve a lot to seriously take on Ivory Coast and Argentina though Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olympian2004 511 Report post Posted June 11, 2006 Every additional match of this tournament shows: This could really become the World Cup of the "outsiders" once more. Iran is currently very dominant over Mexico, too. And I'm pretty surprised that of all "big teams", Germany has showed the most convincing performance so far (despite some defence flaws -- but it was the highest number of goals scored by a "big team" so far). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
