Posted on 07/05/2006 7:31:00 AM PDT by soccer_maniac
Portugal takes on France at 3 p.m. ET (ESPN) in Munich.
Discuss.
(Excerpt) Read more at fifaworldcup.yahoo.com ...
IMHO Ronaldihno was easily the best player in 2002 and invisible this year. Brazil looked old, fat and tired.
I suppose you think that Brazil also was bought off in 1998?
Face it -- France is a better team. Brazil beat up on Japan -- big deal. They beat up on Ghana without Essien -- big deal. No shots on goal until the 90th minute? That makes BRAZIL the cheese-eating surrender monkeys, not France.
He played better in the commercials than in World Cup matches.
I was surprised that Brazil not play well, but hey, everybody is human, and France played extremely well. I don't believe in any conspiracy theories here.
It happens, and not the first time for Brazil btw, that great players don't make an unbeatable team.
Many of Brazil's players are well past their prime.
So was Zidane, but in the past two games he looks like he lost five years.
There's also the question of form, which we in the USA call "who's hot?" Sometimes great players do not play well, and sometimes average players can look great for a game or two. Nobody for instance thinks Hurst was one of the greatest strikers of all time, but for the 1966 Final he sure was.
The crowd was booing Ronaldo as soon as he got the ball.
The trouble with Brazil (and of course its easy to say this with hindsight) is that all the talent with any youth at all left is up front. Keep them penned back in their half, and theyre in trouble.
If Brazil could have disguised the ball as a hamburger, Ronaldo might have run quicker to get it.
Brazil would probably have won the Cup :-)
That said, I was talking about Christiano Ronaldo. The crowd tonight is booing and whistling every time he touched the ball.
They should reshoot that commercial where the kids pick their star team. Instead of laughing at Beckenbaur, they should laugh at Ronaldo.
Just wait till he gets back to Manchester...
Why would he go back to Manchester? Does he need to go clean out his locker?
Word is Manchester wont' take him back. C Ronaldo going to Real Madrid.
25th minute 0-0
"Hit the stopwatch. Only 40 seconds gone and "Big Phil" Scolari is already prowling the touchline. And just to prove someone can unite the French and the English, Cristiano Ronaldo is savagely jeered by the France supporters every time he touches the ball."Phil McNulty, BBC Sport in Munich
That will be confusing, with two Ronaldos on the team.
Real Madrid is old anyway. The "Galacticos" have become the "Oldfarticos".
Hell, I was in Newark yesterday, and there were ITALIANS driving up and down Ferry street celebrating.
Carvalho clips Henry
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