World Cup and European leagues

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Good Lord, no one wants to win this second game.  Swiss and Ukrainians in overtime 0-0.

[Greek Tragedy]

Wow, I'm really surprised that the majority of the comments about yesterday's matches seem to be about how boring England was.  Neither Portugal nor Holland were boring, but that match didn't have much to do with real soccer.  

I didn't see the Holland/Portugal game.  So I can't comment on that.  I did see the England game though.  Anyway, I find it interesting that some posters have said what a great game that was.  I heard it was a hack fest.

(By the way, the holding midfielder yesterday was Michael Carrick, not "Jamie Carrick."  Jamie Carregher is a defenseman, which probably let to the confusion).

Oops. 

Regarding the PK against the Aussies.  What a joke, in injury time.  If I didn't hate Marcelo Balboa before, I really do now.  What a moron.  All tournament he's complaining about players taking dives, penalties that shouldn't have been penalties, players faking injuries, yellow cards that shouldn't be yellow cards...and then when the Italian falls over the Aussie, Balboa raves about how great of a play it was, how well the Italian "sold" the penalty, "oh, it's absolutely perfect, look how he sells it, he just goes over the top of the player, he leans down, he DIVES in and CREATES the penalty"...what a great job.  The player could've easily walked around the Aussie and actually have taken a shot!

WHAT A JOKE by Balboa.  I wish I had his email.

[Mr. Ypsi]

UNBELIEVABLE!  Switzerland did not give up a single goal in 390 minutes - and is going home!  After regulation and OT it was still 0-0 (and a REALLY bad game, not a defensive gem); head to PKs.  Ukraine shoots first and Shevchenko (their best player) is stopped - looks bad for them.  But the next 3 Ukrainians all scored, while NONE of the Swiss could score (the keeper guessed right on 2, and the one he guessed wrong, the crossbar 'guessed' for him! ) - Ukraine advances 3-0.

In the history of the World Cup, no previous team has ever gone home without conceding a single goal.

But both teams played really poorly - Italy looks like a shoo-in for the semis unless Ukraine can really turn it around.

[Mr. Ypsi]

HF,

The Swiss defense obviously would have a chance at winning it all, but eventually you gotta score, too!

OS,

I should have clarified my comment re: Portugal-Holland - when they were playing soccer, they played it VERY well; as Scottie put it, much of the time they were playing hockey!

[sac]

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz-----that about sums up my opinion of the Swiss/Ukraine match.   My gosh even the PK's were horrible.   Exactly the kind of game that makes it difficult for any American to embrace the game of soccer.


Caught the England game this weekend and I can sum up England's problems like  this #1)  No strikers although Rooney looked better, but he has no help.  I'll stand by my thoughts that Crouch is the biggest waste of space on the English side.   Owen was injured and truthfully has barely played for two full years now.  Walcott is completely untested I'm sure Sven wishes he had Jermaine DeFoe or Andy Johnson to call on as backup.

#2)  Lampard and Gerrard do not make a great pairing, they each can dominate a game in the midfield but it doesn't seem to happen with both on the field at the same time.  Right now England seems to be looking to Beckham to create plays which means Lampard and Gerrard get fewer chances and don't look their confident selves when the do get chances.

I'm not sure what it will take for England to beat Portugal but it sure looks like they're doomed to repeat their disappointing loss to Portugal in Euro 04.

I also need a lesson in bracketology......England avoids Argentina in the Q's and Semi's but the way they look it won't matter.


So far Spain, Argentina, Germany and Brazil look far better than anyone left.......including the Italians.

Floppa Azzuri

[Ralph Turner]

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz-----that about sums up my opinion of the Swiss/Ukraine match.   My gosh even the PK's were horrible.   Exactly the kind of game that makes it difficult for any American to embrace the game of soccer.

Ditto, sac!  It was ugly!  Especially with the lack of the opportunity of the Golden Goal, especially for those of us in the southern latitudes who have come to love overtime hockey in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, IMHO, the absolute best sporting experience in the world!

[Greek Tragedy]

Ditto, sac!  It was ugly!  Especially with the lack of the opportunity of the Golden Goal, especially for those of us in the southern latitudes who have come to love overtime hockey in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, IMHO, the absolute best sporting experience in the world!

I agree...including college hockey.  I think the Stanley Cup playoffs is the best post season. 

Actually, I think the "golden goal" would've hurt this game.  They were playing for penalty kicks...just think how tentative they would've played with the "one mistake and you go home" mentality!

I think there's a little part of Jermaine Defoe that hopes England just tanks.  There is no doubt in my mind that Defoe should've been included in the national team.  What was Sven thinking adding Walcott?  Rooney and Owen coming back from injury and Crouch basically untested. 

Crouch is hit and miss.  Sometimes he just looks horrible, but if England is just going to continue to throw the ball out to Beckham and have him cross it, Crouch is needed.  Does England have any imagination?  It seems like they go backwards more than forward!

The entertaining teams come up next with Spain v France and Brazil/ Ghana.

As I predicted, the Argentina/Mexico game is the most entertaining so far.

[mybleedinghands]

Ditto, sac!  It was ugly!  Especially with the lack of the opportunity of the Golden Goal, especially for those of us in the southern latitudes who have come to love overtime hockey in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, IMHO, the absolute best sporting experience in the world!

I agree...including college hockey.  I think the Stanley Cup playoffs is the best post season. 

Watchign hockey on TV would be about a million times more entertaining to watch if they used a different camera angle, such as the camera angle for tennis, you know, from the end of the court instead of the side of the court.

[Hoosier Titan]

#2)  Lampard and Gerrard do not make a great pairing, they each can dominate a game in the midfield but it doesn't seem to happen with both on the field at the same time.  Right now England seems to be looking to Beckham to create plays which means Lampard and Gerrard get fewer chances and don't look their confident selves when the do get chances.

Lampard has taken more shots than anyone else in the tournament--21--and has made zero, while Gerrard has taken about four and made two.  This isn't a slam at Lampard, but Steven has definitely been more productive.

I said the same thing as many others today--the Ukraine-Swiss game is exactly the kind of game that makes Americans think they hate soccer.  And the Italians are definitely leading charmed lives...I'm cheering for whoever they're playing from now on.

If I were coaching England, I'd either put in Crouch or Aaron Lennon with Rooney and go back to 4-4-2.  Lennon is fast and right-footed, which makes him a natural on the right side.  But I'm not...

[Ralph Turner]

...
And the Italians are definitely leading charmed lives...I'm cheering for whoever they're playing from now on. ...

I wonder if cousin Guido talked to the ref of the Itailian game before the start...

[Mr. Ypsi]

...
And the Italians are definitely leading charmed lives...I'm cheering for whoever they're playing from now on. ...

I wonder if cousin Guido talked to the ref of the Itailian game before the start...

My speculation is that the refs don't get extra pay for overtime, and danged if he was gonna keep running for another 30 minutes for free!

[Stinger]

As for the penalty awarded to the Italians, you have to wonder what the hell the Aussie defender was thinking.  Why did he go down in the box to defend?  I was disgusted by the way the Italians flopped in the US match (Cannavaro  is number one on my list), but the Neill's legs were up, and it looked Grosso honestly tripped. That being said, a tough way to take a loss.

Hooser Titan, I've been a big Gerrard fan since he lead Liverpool to that astounding comeback in Istanbul. I think he is the key in the midfield in terms of supporting the strikers.  Every England supporter I know has been calling for Lennon to replace Becks.  Although he's looked a little shaky (horrible marking on that first Swede goal), how can you take out a player that can make a difference with one kick of the his right foot?

[Greek Tragedy]

If I were coaching England, I'd either put in Crouch or Aaron Lennon with Rooney and go back to 4-4-2.  Lennon is fast and right-footed, which makes him a natural on the right side.  But I'm not...

You're not fast or right footed? 

As for the penalty awarded to the Italians, you have to wonder what the hell the Aussie defender was thinking. Why did he go down in the box to defend? I was disgusted by the way the Italians flopped in the US match (Cannavaro is number one on my list), but the Neill's legs were up, and it looked Grosso honestly tripped.

IMO, I believe the Aussie was going down because he thought the Italian was going to shoot and he was going down to block the potential shot.  I also don't remember Neill's leg or legs being up at all.  The Italian flopped over him. 

***edit:  after just seeing a highlight of the play, the Italian "trips" over the Aussie's BACK.  The defender is basically sitting on the ground.

Every England supporter I know has been calling for Lennon to replace Becks. Although he's looked a little shaky (horrible marking on that first Swede goal), how can you take out a player that can make a difference with one kick of the his right foot?

Because he was puking.    At least in the last game! lol.

[Greek Tragedy]

Watchign hockey on TV would be about a million times more entertaining to watch if they used a different camera angle, such as the camera angle for tennis, you know, from the end of the court instead of the side of the court.

At least Fox got rid of the glowing puck.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

So my Swiss dream is dead.  They had been playing quality offense the whole tournament until this game, where it just appeared both teams thought they could win in penalties and stopped going forward in about the 70th minute.  Very strange.

I guess I'm hoping the Brazil bandwagon.  I know they always win and they're the favorites, but its just so much more fun to watch them than anyone else.  They'll be playing whoever wins the Germany-Austria game.