Posted on 06/15/2006 5:42:49 AM PDT by soccer_maniac
Same here...couldn't play hooky today. :(
Is Capello coaching in this WC ? No. That was my point.
I think Capello is an amazing coach as he has won championships with Milan, Roma, Juve, and Real Madrid, where Lippi has won only with Juve. I enjoy watching Lippi's teams more than Capello's. They attack more and are less cynically focused on getting a result.
The other loser today is Germany. Ecuador is now ahead of Germany on GD, so if that holds up Ecuador only needs to tie Germany to win the group. If Germany finishes second in Group A then their most likely second round opponent will be ... England!
Argentina vs. Serbia & Montenegro 15:00
The Netherlands vs. Côte d'Ivoire 18:00
Mexico vs. Angola 21:00
Here are some good resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_FIFA_World_Cup_calendar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_FIFA_World_Cup
Nope, even if Poland tied yesterday, an Ecuador win pretty much seals their fate. Their only chance would have been if Ecuador beat Germany by about 5 goals or Poland beat Costa Rica by 10 goals.
Poland was in deep trouble when they lost to Ecuador 2-0.
Yep. They could ill afford to lose any points to either Ecuador or CRC.
But maybe Ecuador is just pretty darned good.
Ha! That's always fun! Who's the writer who said, before England played Germany in '86 (I think), "If they beat us at our game tomorrow, fear not, for twice in this century we've beaten them at theirs."
"Two World Wars and One World Cup."
I really hope he's right, but I'm bothered by more than the Czech game - we lost to Morocco 1-0 and only beat Latvia 1-0 before getting mauled by the Czechs. Why does that lead to optimism?
That being said, I'd like to watch the US game again after listening to Arena on XM radio the other night. He said that we played better than the score showed, that our defense actually did a good job, and did better in the first half than the 2nd, and commented that the Czechs only got into our third 4 times in the entire first half. Stats show we had possession 55% of the time.
Boy the Mexicans were practically given a free pass to the second round. Iran, Angola, easy wins. Portugal-Mexico probably a tie.
Ah, I see you're right. Guess that goal wasn't as decisive as I thought. Still a tough way to lose, especially to such a huge rival.
What's a trequartista? I looked it up on Google Translate, and didn't get an answer.
Germany was beaten 5-1 in Munich by England in WC Qualifying in 2001 and had to win a playoff to make the WC. They then had trouble getting through the group stages and were outplayed by the USA, with a USA Goal stopped by Frings's hand. Nevertheless they made the Finals.
One game at a time.
If the 6th seeded Pittsburgh Steelers can win the Super Bowl, or the 8th seeded Edmonton Oilers make the Stanley Cup finals, anything is possible, I suppose.
I think Spain has it the easiest: Ukraine, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia.
Those games are less meaningful than NFL exhibition games, they mean nothing. Just something for the players to do to pass the time.
Find out anything you want to know at
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/
France should have it easiest: Switzerland, Togo, and South Korea.
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