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 ...
Now, don't get too cocky.
We haven't seen the Germans against the best teams either yet.
I wouldn’t want England to meet Germany if I was English or German. Both sides look shaky at the moment.
First round play and knockout round play are two different things. Teams take completely different approaches, the intensity level goes up dramatically.
I don't think that CONCACAF has any business having four team in the WC.
We've played six matches, losing four and winning one. We've scored five goals -- three by Mexico alone -- and given up thirteen.
Only continent that is worse is Africa. In five matches they have a draw (earned by Tunisia in injury time against weak Saudi Arabia) and four losses, being outscored 9-4.
Meanwhile South America -- which has four teams in, one less than Africa and the same as CONCACAF -- has won four of five matches and outscored its opponents 8-2.
North America should not have the same number of teams in as South America. That's just ridiculous.
Not saying it's fair, but people will point to T&T's performance in keeping the status quo.
Also, I do think FIFA wants to make sure the US is in the tournament every time from now on. With four slots, it's impossible that the US wouldn't make it to the finals.
I bet it will be Germany - England in the last sixteen and Germany will win the penalty shootout :D
Whatever...GER-ENG is a classic. I really hope it'll happen.
If Team USA can't make the top three in our weak region then they shouldn't go.
Three teams are enough. Africa should lose a spot. Europe should get the CONCACAF playoff spot and South America should get five.
The problem with the "let's make sure USA is in" argument is if they try to eventually apply that to China they would probably need about ten teams from Asia in to make sure China qualifies.
Well, you Germans are clearly up for us. I think England need more time to get Rooney fully fit (I've given up on Owen - why oh why do we not have another striker?).
So if Germany draw or lose to Equador, I say Sven should throw the game against Sweden!
If Ecuador draws against Germany, they'll still most likely be in first.
No problem seeing Ecuador win outright. If they get 20 minutes in without surrendering a goal, Germany will go down.
LIVE NOW: SWEDEN-PARAGUAY
If you want this to happen, quit putting "football" in the keywords. Soccer will suffice. You are inviting American football fans here with that keyword.
Funny, she doesn't look Swedish.
Soccer might not be the keyword non-Americans would use.
The title still makes it obvious what the thread is about.
We have several UK members on the ping list and they just can't accept the "soccer" name :)
Just call it "Association Football" and they'll be OK.
Sweden looks dangerous but just can't seem to finish. Paraguay look a little penned back.
Just what I was talking about. Ibra had a great chance and shot like a girl
HT, 0-0
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