Posted on 06/09/2006 7:43:16 AM PDT by soccer_maniac
Germany, the hosts of the 18th FIFA World Cup, kick off the tournament on Friday against Costa Rica in Munich (LIVE on ABC at 11:00AM ET).
This represents a change to a tradition established back in 1974 which saw the defending world champions having the honour of getting the proceedings under way. The other two teams in Group A, Poland and Ecuador, will fight it out later in the evening.
Yep. :-( They were - you said it - sleepwalking the first 60 minutes.
:-) "A time to make friends!"
We´re trying pretty hard to be a good host. We are advised to smile, to show flags, to be helpful. The World Cup motto in German literally translated means "The world - a guest of/at friends!"
Seems like you guys have done a great job so far.
Wish I was there... :-)
Danke.
I think the BBC summed it up perfectly:
Full-time: Poland 0-2 Ecuador
Referee Toru Kamikawa blows the whistle to end the contest and it is a famous victory for the country from South America who were largely fancied to go home after the group stage. Poland got exactly what they deserved - nothing.
I remember when the WC was here in Dallas back in 94. It was great!
BTW you are rooting for the Dallas Mavericks against Miami, right??
Sure. :-) GO NOWITZKI!!!
He didn't play up to his usual level last night, but he'll probably get 40 in Game 2.
At your service. And if there´s something you don´t like it - blame it on the FIFA! Did you remember that the fans whistled when German President Köhler thanked the FIFA? It´s because of their horrible behaviour. They tried to knock out all non-sponsors, wanted the cities ad-free from non-sponsors, they organized the ticket mess (40% of the tickets go to sponsors, and you can bet which seats will be empty!). Plus, the didn´t allow German armed forces military bands to play the national anthems - recorded music is just fine for them.
Well, that totally sucked.
Are you starting a thread tomorrow. I may not be on at 9 a.m., but I'll be watching.
FIFA is possibly even more incompetent and corrupt than the United Nations ;-)
But, even they cannot mess up the World Cup.
Will Ballack be back for the next game?
I hope he won't :-)
Actually I don't even want to think about the match with Germany - after I've seen today's "performance" by our guys.
There is nothing that becomes history as fast as a game of football.
Next game is a totally new opportunity.
Cheer up!
Are there really any good coaches based in Poland to coach the team. Maybe they really should consider bringing in an outsider next time. If England can have a Swede coaching them, why not?
Well at least they kept the opposing goalie from scoring. ;)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.