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 ...
A player who plays between the strikers and the midfielders. The 3/4 area of the field. Also known as a fantasista. The term covers players like Landon Donavan, Ronaldinho, Alex Del Piero, Kaka, Maradona, et al. Usually given the number 10.
Don't forget Zidane in that list!
France would have to actually score some goals first.
France won't be facing anyone unless they can find the back of the net.
Things might finally go Spain's way this time.
It is like March madness. In the early rounds you have some Cinderella teams, but in the end the heavyweights usually are in the finals.
I don't think the success of soccer in the US hinges on the World Cup play at all. The success depends on a healthy MLS and players going to other countries and playing, and we have seen both of these. That is quite optimistic of the author, but I have seen the US team play some very good games, and they are quite capable of winning.
I see a pattern developing for the US in the World Cup:
1990: Disaster
1994: Round of 16
1998: Disaster
2002: Quarterfinals
2006: Disaster (so far)
And the one thing common to all the "disasters", they were held in Europe.
3-0 Ecuador!!!!!!!!!!!
21. TENORIO Carlos (8')
11. DELGADO Agustin (54')
10. KAVIEDES Ivan (92+')
They're good.
If you qualify out of South America, you have to be good.
Europe has a bunch of teams like San Marino, or the Faeroe Islands or Azerbaijan in their qualifying groups, but you don't get those in South American qualifying.
Ecuador is in first place in Group A
They have a 5-0 goal differencial, while Germany is at 5-2.
I think Germany is going to have their hands full against them.
If Ecuador can hold Germany to a tie, we'll get to see England vs. Germany!
Wow!!
Thanks Ace, good catch. Desk bound until the England match.
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