Any Football Fans Here?, Thread for discussion about world cup Options

[AzgarKhan]

Brazil was really disappointing, they were so defensive while france was attacking. France deserved the victory and ZIDANE did so well.

Brazil and Argentina are both out of worldcup.

My favorite is Germany. I hope they win!!

[Nimii]

Azgarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrahhhhhhhhhhhh yipeeeeeeeeee you are with me re!!

N

[princeali]

Prince bhai

I have just a fear for France only..not because of their footballing ability.They are the luckiest of team in the whole world.Just an example their match against Spain.Spain was the better team in any count.But they failed bcs luck was against them.England is nothing infront of Brazil.England is over over rated team.At present only Germany is a team to be feared.Then again ur argument regarding the defence.Brazil has beaten England in the last world cup quarter final, Germany last confederation cup s/final, Argentina last confederation cup final.All these team have weak defence?So your argument does nt make sense.Only my fear is bad luck that happened to Argentina yesterday.

Ashraf bhai,

IMO I don't think France is lucky, France proved in their win over Brazil that they are a great team, they have the experience and the resources to stop any team in the world. There should be no excuses for Brazil losing the game, they could not score because the defensive tactics of France were great.

About defence, here was my orignal point:

Brazil can be defeated, if chances go your way and you have a strong defence, they will find it hard, unfortunately all the teams they have faced don't have a really strong defence.

I was proved right. I had mentioned that so far in this tournament Brazil did not get tested by the best defensive teams, I am not talking about previous years such as the QF against England or the C Cup that you brought up nor did I talk about Argentina, Germany, England with respect to defence.

If you look at Croatia, Australia, Japan, Ghana, these teams are traditionally not known to be that great on defence, and France was the first real test Brazil had, and they couldn't get passed them. Brazil came into this tourney thinking they couldn't be stopped, and they were.

I said England had a better chance if they faced Brazil (if that was the case) instead of Portugal because I think they are a better team than Portugal, and I don't really fancy Portugal, for me they are a cheap team who only know how to hurt the opposition. Talking about luck, I think that term should apply to the Portuguese, as they have been lucky to reach where they are. England have always been traditionally bad on penalty kicks, but if you saw the game, you could see how they controlled more of the flanks, were better on defence and were causing problems for Portugal with their pace.

I don't really fear Germany, honestly I don't find them that great, Argentina was the better team. They will find it difficult to break the Azzuri Wall, and now that Totti is almost 100% and Toni is finally back on track, the German's better watch out. One thing that will help them and motivate them will be the home crowd and the fact that they have never lost at Dortmund.

I am very happy that France made it through, everyone was expecting Brazil to make it to the semi's and France came through, I hope they make the Finals and kick Portugal really hard.

Looking forward to an Italy-France Final ! .....and then ofcourse an Italy win .

[Ashraf]

Prince Ali bhai

I also agreed that France was better team against Brazil.Why I told France is lucky team.In Euro 2000 France has got a lot of decisions going their way .

Let me give few example

1. the wrong Penalty they got against Portugal in semifinal extra time(golden goal)

2. Equalising goal against Portugal in same match which was a clear offside.

3.Injury time (93rd minut) equaliser against Italy in the final.

4.This worldcup quarter against Spain wrong free kick given and goal beside Span dominated the entire match.

Their african born defenders were using their body against the stylish players and Refrees were blind.Any way Zidane is a class player and what ever France is achieved is due to him.Once he and his senior collegues retire after the world cup we can see the fate of France where Brazil will remain in the top for years to come.I consider the teams like Holland which was(and still is) among the top teams always and still did nt win a cup(missed out in 74 and 78).Same applies for Spain also.

I say that rather than France's victory it was defeat of Brazil.Brazil coach is to be blamed for their defencive tactics.Brazil was playing like they have some divine right to reach in the final.Same Brazil without Ronaldo,Carlos and Cafu won the Confederation cup.This time the veteren horses and the coach cost heavily for Brazil.Don't doubt attacking calibre of Brazil.They have many many youngers coming up and even in the defeat that is something to cheer about.



Now hoping on our little brothers Portugal.Your argument about that match(Port-Eng) is biased one..Portugal had a ball possession of 62% and 20 shots on goal.From this itself one can estimate who played better.

Finally the teams which attracted me in this world cup(though I could nt see many matches) Ivory cost,Ghana and Portugal just because of their stylish and attacking football.

[NATURE]

Ashraf bhai,

IMO I don't think France is lucky, France proved in their win over Brazil that they are a great team, they
have the experience and the resources to stop any team in the world. There should be no excuses for
Brazil losing the game, they could not score because the defensive tactics of France were great.

--> excellent princeali saheb !!! well said. france did well, so they won. i loved their performance
especially zidane dominated the match. i am so happy ...

Looking forward to an Italy-France Final ! .....and then ofcourse an Italy win .

that too i predicted. france v. italy final, don't know what will happen. forza italia !!!
but no, don't go for italy. go for france, plz plz plz ... vive la française !!!
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Prince Ali bhai

I also agreed that France was better team against Brazil.Why I told France is lucky team.In Euro 2000
France has got a lot of decisions going their way .

euro 2000 ? but i am talking about fifa 2006 ... well, who are lucky then ???
i guess germany and portugal. i like portugal, but england was unlucky that day. let me give some
counter examples ...

against germany, argentina being unlucky:
1. that free kick, do u think it was a justice ?
2. that yellow card, it was against germany but the referee favored them, why ?
3. the goalkeeper ... oh, no !!! he should have been there till the penalty shoot out ...
4. messi didn't play, so sad ...

in favor of england
1. becham left, rooney left.
2. some decisions were against england
3. they were much better in defence. and i think terry is a very good defender. portugal got so
many golden opportunities but couldn't make it though, why ? because of british defence. but finally
portugal won, so we may feel they are better ...

i am not suporting england. but i want to accept the negaitve points of my prefered teams. don't u ?
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Their african born defenders were using their body against the stylish players and Refrees were blind.Any
way Zidane is a class player and what ever France is achieved is due to him.Once he and his senior
collegues retire after the world cup we can see the fate of France where Brazil will remain in the top for
years to come.I consider the teams like Holland which was(and still is) among the top teams always and
still did nt win a cup(missed out in 74 and 78).Same applies for Spain also.

yeah. zidane is a class player, i like his style like i do ronaldinho, messi, tevez, terry, gerrard's ...
i don't see the same in germany. r u talking about podolski & kolse ? they are no where around
messi, zidane & tevez at least ... i don't know why people love germany so much ... i love them too
but there is no point of favoring them when we have teams like brasil & argentina ...
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I say that rather than France's victory it was defeat of Brazil.

that's quite true. cause the victory is relative. if u win, it could be yr strongness and my weakness ...
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Azgarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrahhhhhhhhhhhh yipeeeeeeeeee you are with me re!!

N

to tussi germany ki support mein ho ??? ... mussi itnaa kyun tussi ko samjhaa rahaa hoon.
tussi jo chaahe woh karo, germany ke support mein raho parantu kamse kam brasil aur argentina ko to
zyadaa support karo ...
aur jabtak zidane hai tabtak podolski ke baaremein mat socho ... is he cute ?
---------------------------

[Nimii]

No no me no support countries u support Nature

Haan Podolski

N

[princeali]

Prince Ali bhai

I also agreed that France was better team against Brazil.Why I told France is lucky team.In Euro 2000 France has got a lot of decisions going their way .

Let me give few example

1. the wrong Penalty they got against Portugal in semifinal extra time(golden goal)

2. Equalising goal against Portugal in same match which was a clear offside.

3.Injury time (93rd minut) equaliser against Italy in the final.

4.This worldcup quarter against Spain wrong free kick given and goal beside Span dominated the entire match.

Their african born defenders were using their body against the stylish players and Refrees were blind.Any way Zidane is a class player and what ever France is achieved is due to him.Once he and his senior collegues retire after the world cup we can see the fate of France where Brazil will remain in the top for years to come.I consider the teams like Holland which was(and still is) among the top teams always and still did nt win a cup(missed out in 74 and 78).Same applies for Spain also.

I say that rather than France's victory it was defeat of Brazil.Brazil coach is to be blamed for their defencive tactics.Brazil was playing like they have some divine right to reach in the final.Same Brazil without Ronaldo,Carlos and Cafu won the Confederation cup.This time the veteren horses and the coach cost heavily for Brazil.Don't doubt attacking calibre of Brazil.They have many many youngers coming up and even in the defeat that is something to cheer about.



Now hoping on our little brothers Portugal.Your argument about that match(Port-Eng) is biased one..Portugal had a ball possession of 62% and 20 shots on goal.From this itself one can estimate who played better.

Finally the teams which attracted me in this world cup(though I could nt see many matches) Ivory cost,Ghana and Portugal just because of their stylish and attacking football.

Ashraf bhai,

I understand what you're saying.....however I was focusing on the current WC and not past tourney's but I get what you're saying about previous tourney's and France. I was so upset when France won Euro 2000 against Italy, and Del Piero missed those two chances, now if they meet up in the Final, it will be Italy's turn to set the record straight.

Yup Zidane is the center of the French team, and it will be interesting to see how they cope without him, in fact he came out of retirement to lead this French team in the WC and now they are in the semi's, something no one would have predicted this time around.

I never doubted Brazil's attacking calibre, in fact if I was the coach, I wouldn't have played the team they played through the whole match, I would have put in some more effective youngsters who could have given the team a boost in the second half instead of relying on the same group. I was just pointing out that they had not been tested throughout the tourney, and France was their first test, and in the end it showed.

I know Ronaldo scored three goals (mostly set-up) but he was slowing down the team, I don't think he should have been the number 1 striker. From the time he played in the Champions League with Real Madrid, he was not fully fit and def. not the same player he was in 02, there were other better options as well as players such as Fabiano or Oliviera waiting in the wings who were not chosen in the squad. However Parriera chose to stick with him and he should have stuck to playing him one half and seeing how he progressed.

Brazil scored against weaker oppositions, and against France they were truly tested. It's interesting that France has gotten the better of Brazil on most encounters after the 98 Final. Parriera was the same Brazilian coach that led the team to a victory in 94, and this time he had arguably a much better team, but when the test came they could not gel together. France were solid in defence and didn't allow too many opportunities for Brazil which is why subs should have been made. Anyways, it will be interesting to see who the next coach of Brazil is since in the past, Brazil has had a habit of changing their coaches after each WC.

IMO Ball Possession doesn't matter in some of the matches for ex. that Italy played, they had less ball possession but it was the chances they created, the opportunities of scoring that they had, how they controlled the flanks and their midfield that mattered in the end, and ofcourse the scoreline. Portugal was clearly troubled by England in the match and England had chances to take the game away, and Ericksson would finally win against Scolari, something he hasn't been able to do in previous years, but it was not to be. Ofcourse everyone has their own views, and these are mine based on the match.

Yes Holland is a class team, wish they had gone further in this tourney, Ghana played well, probably would have gone further if they didn't face Brazil in the second round, Spain was expected to go further but as always they choked in the next round after playing well in the group stages, they have a good group of youngsters for the future.

Forza Italia !!!!!

Regards

Ali

[princeali]

i agree, iaquinta realy sucked last game.The reason for using iaquinta and not pippo last game is probably because pippo is a typically box-player. He cant do much on his own, he is more a player that just is on the right place at the right time, and scores many goales. Against the aussies, italy needed someone who could hold on to the ball as they were one less than their opponents, so the midfield would get enough time to come after to attack. but as iaquinta played worse than I could have, it didn't work very well
read that pippo might be teamed up with toni on top for italy against ukraine, but that lippi might try the same formation as against czech-rep 4-4-1-1 with toni alone on top with totti behind. so hope they play 4-4-2 with pippo inzaghi and luca toni/Gila on top

forza azzuri!!

I feel so sad seeing Del Piero being reduced to a sub and not even featuring in some games. That's how much riches the Azzuri have, that a player of his calibre is on the bench. Other teams would jump at the thought of getting a Del Piero playing for them.

What do you think about the Germany match, will Lippi opt for the lone Toni up front or will he bring Gila back. This is a stronger opposition, I think Toni should get support upfront with another striker, and then Totti right behind them now that he is almost fully fit.

DP needs to sub for one of the strikers, forget bringing him on for Totti, they should play together, something Lippi hasn't tried yet, and Pippo can come on for another striker if needed.

[deep750]

italy played with these players in last nights practice game:


Team one: Buffon; Oddo, Nesta, Barzagli, Zaccardo; Gattuso, Pirlo, Perrotta; Totti, Toni, Iaquinta.

Team two: Peruzzi: Zambrotta, Cannavaro, Materazzi, Grosso; Camoranesi, Barone, De Rossi; Gilardino, Inzaghi, Del Piero

If I would make a guess for the starting lineup based on these teams:

Buffon; Zambrotta, Cannavaro, Materazzi, Grosso; Gattuso, Pirlo, Perrotta; Totti; Toni, Iaquinta.

hope that iaquinta aint starting. dont feel he is good enough for the starting 11, would rather like to see gila or pippo.

Forza Italia!

[princeali]

italy played with these players in last nights practice game:


Team one: Buffon; Oddo, Nesta, Barzagli, Zaccardo; Gattuso, Pirlo, Perrotta; Totti, Toni, Iaquinta.

Team two: Peruzzi: Zambrotta, Cannavaro, Materazzi, Grosso; Camoranesi, Barone, De Rossi; Gilardino, Inzaghi, Del Piero

If I would make a guess for the starting lineup based on these teams:

Buffon; Zambrotta, Cannavaro, Materazzi, Grosso; Gattuso, Pirlo, Perrotta; Totti; Toni, Iaquinta.

hope that iaquinta aint starting. dont feel he is good enough for the starting 11, would rather like to see gila or pippo.

Forza Italia!

That's how the starting lineup has been with Gili usually in place of Iaquinta....I also feel Iaquinta's not that great in fact he shouldn't have even been in the squad, Cassano should have been in his place. Nesta will be missed in this game, but Materazzi has been good in his place.

I really hope DP gets to play, he's hungry for a chance to shine in this tourney.

[deep750]

well, I dont agree with you about cassano. He almost hasn't played a full match since new year, and he is a person who often have negative influence on the teamspirit. I think iaquinta probably is the 4th best striker in italy at the time, but he hasnt been good this WC, and shouldnt have played as much as he has.

here are the official lineups:

Germany: Lehmann; Friedrich, Mertesacker, Metzelder, Lahm; Borowski, Schneider, Ballack, Kehl; Klose, Podolski

Italy: Buffon; Zambrotta, Cannavaro, Materazzi, Grosso; Camoranesi, Gattuso, Pirlo, Perrotta; Totti; Toni

Ref: Archundia (Mex)

thank lippi for not playing with iaquinta from start

[Talaikya]

What a finish!!!

[NATURE]

forza italia !!! i am so happy, hip hip hurrey !!!
what a win, 2-0 even at the 2nd half period extra time ... the penalty shoot out might
give the germans to win the match ... but that didn't happen anyway. god is really kind
initially italia missed so many chances, they fougth, took the ball upto the goalkeeper but couldn't
deliver a on target shot ... but the end was good ...

congrats princeal saheb, congrats deep and congrats all the italian fans ...

so, my prediction is 50% correct now. say, what will happen in france v. portugal fight ???
i must say impossible nothing ...
hats off to italia at least 50% trickery is finished now ...
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Haan Podolski

N

--> hmmmmm, to phodolski hai ??? woh hume pataa nahi thaa nimbu, bas hume yehi pataa thaa
ki woh bhaagtaa bahut hai. bahut tez bhaagtaa hai. he runs very fast, very good ... these 2 could be
the reasons why he is in the hearts of millions ... ( if u understand what & who do i mean )
------------------------
anyway, forza italia and vive la française ...

[unni]

No fair!

What did you expect? With the Pope on their side to get God on their side. How else do you explain a goal in each of the last two minutes of extra-time?

Miracles never cease!

CONGRATS ITALIA!!!!

[Nimii]

Nature

N