World Cup Discussion Thread

[WMR]

Hmmm, I must heartily disagree about T & T, ESPECIALLY their first match versus the Swedes. Considering the side that they were up against, and how they fought tooth and nail even when going down a man, T & T v. Sweden has been my favorite/most exciting match of the tournament so far. (Sorry, Saudia Arabia v. Tunisia just doesn't do it for me)

[oneupper]

Angola is a team that eked out a spot over the more talented Nigeria by stressing defense. Probably the weakest in Africa along with Togo. Tunisia should not have tied the Saudis. They are a much better team. I agree Spain will slaughter both.
Japan and Korea are showing what they really are without a home field advantage.
Australia has shown gutsy play, lets see if they are content to lose honorably against Brazil.

[Nugget]

Having read the posts I've got to disagree with giving extra South American and European slots. Each continent has had its poor performers and I don't think you could say that South America deserves an extra place. Uruguay played a full home and away series against Australia and didn't make it. Also South Korea and Japan played very well. Japan played the tactics that a lot of WC teams play. Get the goal ahead and sit on it. Most teams, no matter how good you are, feel that all they want to do is not lose the first match. Australia and Hiddink were just better match conditioned. The fact that they are lowly ranked is just a reflection of how little FIFA sanctioned tournaments they can play in. As for the South Korean match it seemed like Advocat was playing the same tactics as Hiddink. Putting up the shutters early and keeping something in reserve for the second half.

The problem with African football is more about politics than talent. Both Togo and Angola having qualified for the WC lost all their matches in the African Cup of Nations and Togo had their coach walk out on the eve of their first match. All in all I think that there is a good balance between the continents for the World Cup. If you look at some of the performances so far you could say that from Europe, Poland and Ukraine have underperformed (so too France), USA from NA, Paraguay has been steady but have never looked like winning a match, Saudia Arabia are perennial underperformers but are well financed, Ghana has been the real African disappointment given their lead up into the World Cup.

On the performance above and beyond that has to go to Trinidad and Tobago through a bit of luck, tactics and Dwight Yorke.

And on a side note, for the next World Cup Australia will be qualifying through the Asian Group so you may more than likely see another South American qualifier as they will more than likely play New Zealand.

[M2]

Argentina has dismantled Serbia, which has responded by playing like thugs. Lionel Messi just pulled a Frank Robinson. He took a hard foul and then made the defender who took the shot at him look like a fool.

Plus, it's hard to root for a Serbian team led by a guy named Milosevic.

[WMR]

Wow yeah I think Argentina may have just put in the most impressive performance by a team so far. They have looked amazingly good.

[WMR]

oh my they're scoring for fun now, five - nil, Argentina

[WMR]

Wow, Messi a goal and an assist, 18 years old, he truly does appear to be the real deal. What wonderful short-space passing from the Argentinians.

6-0 Argentina.

[M2]

So if Cote d'Ivoire played Argentina close and Serbia played the Netherlands close and Argentina destroyed Serbia, does that mean Cote d'Ivoire can pull a shocker against the Dutch?

[WMR]

Good question, M2, I know many were picking the Cote D'Ivoire v. Netherlands match as one of their top picks of the opening round. I think Ivory Coast will win; I'm pulling for them anyway, I love watching the African nations and their free-wheeling style of soccer. Drogba is a beast.

A bit of dissension as well in the Netherlands camp after their win over S&M...

we shall see!

[MWM]

I watched Messi a couple of years ago as a teen in under 18 world championship game against Nigeria. He was head and shoulders above everyone else. He single handedly beat a superior Nigerian team who outplayed Argentina almost the whole game.

[MWM]

Has anyone been more underwhelming than England? Heck, I don't think they've looked that much better than the US.

And count me in the camp who's been impressed with Trinidad. They're not spectacular, but they play very disciplined and make very few mistakes. They seem to be well coached and play smart. I like what I've seen out of them.

I also think Sweeden has been one of the more impressive teams. I was glad to see them pull it out against Uruguay last night. They deserved to win. If both teams play the way they have so far, Sweeden will hand England their lunch. But England is already through and Sweeden just needs a tie to advance, so I'm not sure how intense the game will be even though the winner will win the group and get a more favorable pairing in the next round.

I'm pretty stoked about the Netherlands - Ivory Coast game. That should be an exciting one.

[reds1869]

Originally Posted by MWM

I'm pretty stoked about the Netherlands - Ivory Coast game. That should be an exciting one.

This one did not dissapoint. What an intense finale! Ivory Coast deserves better than early elimination, but they'll be tough in four years. Easily one of the more thrilling contests so far.

[oneupper]

Originally Posted by Herd Fan

This one did not dissapoint. What an intense finale! Ivory Coast deserves better than early elimination, but they'll be tough in four years. Easily one of the more thrilling contests so far.

Agreed. Great game (The ARG-IVC was good, too). Feel very bad for the Ivory Coast team, they proved they could play with any side.

[MWM]

Yeah, I hate to see the Ivory Coast not advance. They were fun to watch and played some really good soccer. I was not very impresses with their keeper. He looked shaky even on the saves he made. The first Dutch goal should have been stopped.

But I love the Netherlands. I became big fans of theirs during the '98 Cup (even before the famous Bergkamp goal). I thought they were the best team I saw that year and was disappointed they lost to Brazil in penalty kicks in the semi-finals. But boy were they fun to watch that year. I've rooted for them ever since.

[IslandRed]

Just one question about the Netherlands... Have the numbers on their jerseys always looked like a schoolboy drew them on with a big Sharpie?