Posted on 06/13/2006 6:05:50 AM PDT by soccer_maniac
World Cup favorite Brazil will kick off its World Cup campaign on Tuesday as the opening round of the tournament continues in Germany. The defending champions will face Croatia at 3 p.m. ET (ESPN2) in Berlin in the second Group F match, following Australia's come-from-behind victory over Japan Monday.
The match will feature the highly-anticipated debut of FC Barcelona great Ronaldinho as he looks to lead the South Americans to a record sixth championship. But the reigning FIFA World Player of the Year is hardly the only weapon in coach Carlos Alberto Parreira's arsenal. Also at his disposal are Ronaldo, Kaka, Robinho and Roberto Carlos -- just to name a few -- who could leave the Croatian defense in for a busy day.
In the day's first match, first-time qualifiers Togo will be looking to upset 2002 semifinalists South Korea (9 a.m. ET, ESPN2). Though the Asian side does not have home field advantage as they did four years ago, the side is very experienced and boasts much talent, including 10 players returning for their second consecutive finals. The Koreans will be looking to Ahn Jung-Hwan for offense.
Togo enters the match as one of the surprise teams in the field, having secured qualification for the first time in the tiny nation's history. With many players coming from the French, Swiss and English leagues, they are a side capable of raising a few eyebrows.
Also making their 2006 World Cup debuts on Tuesday will be France and Switzerland, the neighboring nations squaring off at 12 noon ET on ESPN2. 'Les Blues' are chock full of world-class talent, including Arsenal's Thierry Henry and former FIFA World Player of the Year Zinedine Zidane, who led the French to their only World Cup title on home soil eight years ago.
(Excerpt) Read more at mlsnet.com ...
(I'm using the international definition of "football")
Which is exactly why I hate this sport. You fans are the touchiest, crabbiest people on the planet. The girlie pics are at least making me reconsider my stance ...
France still have good players, but a lot of them are old and that may well hinder the abilities of Thierry Henry, and he’s not exactly reliable in the big games. We shall see.
Oh, and GOAL to Togo!
Way Togo Togo!!!!
Heh. Good one.
For sheer drama in a football match, I prefer England v Argentina. Something ALWAYS happens in those games. But Germany is definitely a good rival.
They certainly have, especially the Hand of Satan (I refuse to refer to it as the Hand of God) game.
We don't need luck. We've been doing fine since the WC began except for the odd irrelevant post from people who just can't resist a juvenile snipe or two.
My advice remains the same: if your fingers can't seem to stay off the keyboard, then start a thread on the preferred sport of your choice and see how many posters you attract. It's a win-win.
Togo went up 1-0 in case anyone is interested.
We played badly and Czechoslovakia is the better team. But we could have done better. Sloppiness led to a couple of goals. And our offense was anemic. Too much midfield passing and no aggression on offense.
I'm holding out hope for an upset victory over the Italians. Hey, why not?
Me too!
And there is nothing wrong with losing a good game to a good team. Its when they don't even show up to play.
I HATE penalty kicks. After two overtimes the goalies should be taken out of the game (i.e., not allowed to use their hands.)
'I know some of you love this sport ..... but I'd rather watch competitive dry cleaing....'
You must love American Football then, loadsa stuffed shirts standing around all day. . . . . :D
If the US is to win , they cannot give up a goal five minutes into the match. If they can get it to halftime at 0-0, then they might get the Italians frustrated which can create some opportunites.
The problem however for the US is the goal differential, they are not likely to beat anybody by 3 or more goals. They could conceivably win their next 2 games and still not advance.
Wow! It's hard not to root for Togo and Trinidad and Tobago. Amazing that countries like that are in and Russia, China and India are out.
'Now if you want to talk about a crappy sport, one that shouldn't ever even be considered being called a sport, that would be NASCAR.'
Nascar is a sport? They sometimes show it over here in the UK at 3AM when they run out of old war films. I thought it was a webcam of a busy freeway I was watching. . . . :D
But it would be worth it to beat the Italians! 8-)
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