Posted on 06/15/2006 5:42:49 AM PDT by soccer_maniac
Starting off the day will be Real Salt Lake's Douglas Sequeira and his Costa Rican teammates, who play Ecuador at 8:55 a.m. ET in Hamburg (ESPN2). The ticos showed pluck in their Group A opener against Germany on Friday, making a game of it by scoring twice against the hosts before falling 4-2. The Central Americans will need to have more players get involved in the attack against Ecuador, as Paulo Wanchope provided their only offense. The Ecuadorians got a huge weight off their shoulders by downing Poland 2-0 in their group play opener Friday. Previously, the side had been maligned for its inability to win away from the high altitude of their home ground in Quito, but that changed as Carlos Tenorio and Agustin Delgado each scored to upset the favored Poles. An Ecuador victory will guarantee they and Germany advance from Group A to the round-of-16.
Trinidad & Tobago looking to play giant-killer against England in the day's marquee matchup. The sides meet at 11:55 a.m. ET in Nuremberg in a match that will air live on ESPN2. The "Soca Warriors" made their World Cup debut Saturday, pulling off a surprising scoreless draw against Sweden in Group B play despite playing a man down for most of the second half.
The last match of the day comes at 2:55 p.m. ET in Berlin (ESPN) as Paraguay and Sweden meet. The Paraguayans were lackluster in their match against England and must get more out of their attack to have a shot to advance to the knockout phase. The Swedes had equal difficulty finding the net against Trinidad & Tobago; strikers Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrik Larsson will hope to be on target this time around.
(Excerpt) Read more at mlsnet.com ...
England would be tough but they could beat Paraguay, Trinidad or Sweden.
Congratulations to Ecuador.
In 1998 they hadn't ever qualified for a World Cup. Four years ago they lost their first two World Cup games but won and eliminated Croatia in the last game. Now they have two shutouts in their first two games and clinched a second round spot.
Did I say something that made me sound like I don't know what I am talking about?
England and Sweden are my picks today. Hope they do well and Rooney is not coming back too soon.
OOPPPSSS, senior moment. Saturday, USA/Italy
The Germans will be quaking in their boots.
The two international teams I follow are the USA and Spain.
My home country boys are in a rough spot, but I am hopeful the Spaniards continue to do well.
Of course for the US, we'd love a win, but first we need to get back our respect.
It took us so long to move up to respectability then out of nowhere we could play with the likes of a Columbia in 1994, and destroy a prediction from the likes of Pele no less but also take it to another level after a flameout like France 98.
Expectations may not be reasonable considering the group in addition to the FIFA ratings which are on the whole nothing short of hilarious.
So yes, first we need to get back our respect. A result is great but it comes after we dig out of the hole we just found ourselves in.
Heck, they make the BCS rankings look legitimate in comparison.
My brother you are sadly mistaken about Italy. They have their first win under the belt and now they will look to pick up their game. Maybe slowly, perhaps only in flashes, but the US will be showing how impregnable and disciplined a mighty defense truly is when Saturday comes.
I say that with my heart bleeding red, white and blue. I just want respect.
That means more than anything after the fall to the Czechs. That was a fall in the eyes of the world.
Croatia will be heard from in this tournament. A very good showing.
Forza....Trinidad & Tobago ;)
Team USA was a good team and did us proud as the host nation in 1994.
Team USA was a great team and made the world take notice in 2002.
Oliver Kahn collapsed in a heap from the tension when the quarterfinal ended, such was the tension and pressure due to the US.
And to this day, players on the US feel they should have won that game.
The US in a semi-final. That would be incredible!
Calm down with a loss and facing Italy in the next game.
This is no time to calm down. Nice article but nuts!
The US did try their pressure tactics to cut the field as Bruce says, but they were met like a boxer who comes out swinging in the first and can't hurt the other guy.
The Czechs didn't let us pull off that tactic. It's called technical class.
Boy do the Czechs have it.
About to leave my desk, go on over to Charlie Brown's and catch the first half of the England game! WooHoo!
My English friend just emailed me about a potential England-Germany.
Oh yeah, bring it on.
I would love to see England do it in Germany. They would consider it a mini-World Cup.
They'll have to build a trophy for that one.
Go T and T !!
So far an uninspiring performance from England...
... pretty underwhelming.
A few chances here and there.....Sven seems to be in love with the slowly slowly approach. Considering his teams' 2nd half performances England need at least 2 this half.
Ouch!!!!!!! Tough place to get hit.
England still looks uninspired.
Shaka Hislop is looking bored already...
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