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Post by amptique on Jun 22, 2010 13:22:30 GMT
 Ooops ! me got bad sense of humour ! Looks awful when you see it in print ! No worries my friend.  Bill |
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Post by Jeff on Jun 23, 2010 10:07:59 GMT
Enjoy your day Kiwis! You deserve it. I'm happy for you. I hope you can qualify for the next round. I think your team deserve my support much more than that embarrassing bunch of overpaid prima donnas that masquerades as the best of English football. Martin D £160,000 a week ! Money not well spent I think. As the NZ captain said after the match, they do it for their friends, their family and their country. The England players just do it for their bank balance. Interesting to hear a guy from Slovenian TV on Radio 5 this morning. No prizes for guessing their tactics: defend for 90 minutes with 11 men behind the ball. They only need a draw. Rooney and Defoe are starting up front and will be man-marked. Hope Rooney can keep his cool but it worries me that on the last 4 occasions he and Defoe have played together, neither has scored. If we get a penalty I don't want Lampard taking it. He's missed his last 2 (1 for Chelsea, 1 for England). If it's still 0-0 at half-time Capello will have to bring on Peter Crouch and start praying but there's only one man who can work miracles and He isn't playing today ! |
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Post by Elliot Kane on Jun 23, 2010 11:46:46 GMT
If they're going to be playing an eleven man defence, we need Joe Cole on the pitch more than ever. He's the only player we've got who can really break that kind of thing down.
Why Capello won't play him is one of the biggest mysteries of English football.
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Post by I-H-F on Jun 24, 2010 0:18:40 GMT
Well, the USA left it very, very late! At least their disallowed goal against Slovenia didn't cost them in the end. The USA's late win leaves England with a tough match against Germany in the last 16. That should be interesting! Didn't anyone catch Defoe's tug on the Slovenia defenders shirt for his goal?  A win for New Zealand later today will see them through to the last 16. What a great story that would be! |
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Post by Elliot Kane on Jun 24, 2010 1:53:32 GMT
Germany is our nemesis at football. I'm pretty sure they've knocked us out more than any other team. England played better today, but I'm still not seeing world champions so much as also-rans. Germany on the other hand should never be underestimated.
The good news is that England v Germany is always a really good match, win or lose. So I'm kinda dreading it and kinda looking forward to it, if that makes sense.
(Still need Joe Cole to start, though)
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Post by dazza on Jun 24, 2010 5:48:48 GMT
Hope we have been practising penalties..... we always seem to up our game for the big matches - especially against the Germans!
There is still room for improvment but yesterdays performance was much much better. Milner was outstanding for me, it made such a difference having a player who can actually cross.
Good Luck to New Zealand today!
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Post by Jeff on Jun 24, 2010 10:23:12 GMT
Yes a much improved performance. Pity Rooney hit the post since we needed a second goal to top the group. Coming second we now have a far harder route in the same quarter of the draw as Argentina, always assuming we beat the Germans. Rumour has it the Bundesliga have been using the Jabulani ball all last season. How sneakily efficient ! Hope Lampard is practising his penalties !! Paraguay v New Zealand tonight should be interesting. Good luck NZ ! |
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Post by larryhauck on Jun 24, 2010 10:45:38 GMT
Well the USA got another bad call costing them a goal. Could theree be a bias against the US.
Larry
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Post by stevemacdonald on Jun 24, 2010 16:54:43 GMT
Well the USA got another bad call costing them a goal. Could theree be a bias against the US. Larry There could be a bias against the US, maybe because the US doesn't take soccer as seriously as the rest of the world. We have a completely different national pastime than all these other countries for whom soccer is pretty much everything. We have our awesome World Series, our incomparable Super Bowl, our College bowl games and our March Madness. The attitude is basically that soccer is a nice sport to play when you're a kid but you reserve your enthusiam for real sports like football, baseball and basketball. The market for soccer has never been huge in the states and, truth be told, never will be. |
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Post by dazza on Jun 24, 2010 16:56:42 GMT
Well the Italy, the current World Champions are out after losing to Slovakia. I think this is the first time ever that the two previous finalists (Italy & France) have crashed out in the group stages.
A big Congratulation’s is in order for New Zealand who drew 0-0 with Paraguay. They didn't qualify to the next round, but when they made this World Cup, nobody, myself included didn't give them a chance.
To remain unbeaten and finish above the World Champions is a fantastic achievement. The people of New Zealand should be immensely proud of their team tonight.
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Post by thomas on Jun 24, 2010 20:13:58 GMT
Unfortuately NZ didn't make it under the last 16. One single goal would have been enough. But they played well and they haven't lost a match. Congratulations! Now I'm looking forward to Sunday afternoon: Germany - England That promises to be very exciting. Thomas |
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Post by I-H-F on Jun 24, 2010 22:15:32 GMT
There's a fine line between success and failure. One goal for New Zealand would have sent them into the last 16, and sent Paraguay home. One more goal for Italy would have sent them through, and Slovakia out. Slovenia were heading through until the USA's late goal. The New Zealand "All Whites" were actually the "All Blacks" today. Shame to see them go out. Still, as Thomas and Dazza have said, they remained unbeaten, and only conceded one goal from open play. Larry, I don't think there is a bias against the US. Yes, they have had two bad calls against them. But some you win, some you lose. Serbia also felt agrieved when they should've been awarded a penalty against Australia, that would have sent them through if converted. Be thankful your country is still in the World Cup I fancy the US to reach the semi-finals now. That would be a great achievement for a country where soccer takes a back seat behind other major sports. |
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Post by larryhauck on Jun 24, 2010 23:33:26 GMT
Hi Steve
I agree with you; but I think things are changing.I predict that the U S will be a major power in soccer, football, within ten years.
Larry
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Post by Ross on Jun 25, 2010 4:17:31 GMT
In NZ we don't know if we should be happy we did so well or sad that we couldn't get to the next round. Apparently it is only the 4th time at a World Cup that a team has been unbeaten but still drops out after the 1st round. I am especially happy that NZ finished above Italy.
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Post by dazza on Jun 25, 2010 5:49:42 GMT
Now I'm looking forward to Sunday afternoon: Germany - England That promises to be very exciting. Hi Thomas, I can't wait! I know of the history between our two sides, the 1966 final, I am too young to remember Italia 90 and have only vague memories of Euro 96. My best memory being our 5-1 win during the World Cup qualifying campaign in 2001. We always seem to raise our game against Germany more than any other team and there have been some epic games, hopefully this will turn out to be another cracker on Sunday. I just hope we have been practising penalties! May the best team win! Dazza |
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