Posted on 06/30/2006 11:08:19 PM PDT by soccer_maniac
The quarterfinal round concludes with a pair of enticing match-ups. The day's first match pits England against Portugal (10:30 a.m. ET, ABC) in Gelsenkirchen, while a rematch of the 1998 final between Brazil and France (3:00 p.m. ET, ESPN) will wrap the Round of 8.
(Excerpt) Read more at fifaworldcup.yahoo.com ...
We shall see.
Indeed. If France just make it past Portugal to the final, I will at least make SOME money, as I placed an each way bet. A win isn't beyond the bounds of possibility, though there will be some tired old legs out there.
If France goes to the final it will have much tougher time winning against Germany even if Zeidan plays well.
There is far more to the France team than just Zidane. Viera and Henry are a huge factor. Germany may have France's number in the final but Italy have a far better chance of beating the Krauts than Portugal have of beating France.
My thoughts exactly. Wayne Rooney got all it needs for a real football champion - but the character.
He is the one to blame for englands end - there were two chances in front of the goal that he could have cashed in for a victory - if he didn't prefer to fail his team in this sad way.
Such a looser.
The krauts didn't line up to loose - realise it.
:)
Well - they should go for it. The US has a lot of good athletes and many people with a pioneers attitude - I think it's only a question of time that 'soccer' becomes an even more popular thing at your place - it's nothing less then the worlds most wanted trophy.
...and I think it's overdue that the chineese and indians come up with a decent football team - can't even remember them having ever qualified.
Your attacks on the impossible prove to be devastating.
Some of us profited handsomely from the impossible French victory. :)
Couldn't agree with you more. The French defense was pure quality. Ribery brought some nice speed and strength to the attack.
Zidane played with the intelligence that makes France a different team. Without him they struggle.
Brazil is going to be sad. And all the bandwagon fans will have to find another team.
It was one fine display of football. I'm sure people will be watching this one for a long time.
As long as all these "football" nations play pickup soccer all the time, while pickup games are rare in the US, we will not win much against Brazil, France, Germany, and the other football powerhouses.
In this country, pickup games are more basketball than anything else, and pickup games of American football and baseball are much more common than soccer.
American players don't learn by playing unsupervised against older kids, almost all of our players come up through overcoached leagues, and wind up without any creativity. I don't know how to change that - although more youngsters than ever are playing the game, they still aren't playing on their own.
Chinese qualified under Bora Multinovic in 2002; they were in the same group as Brazil, Costa Rica, and Turkey.
thanks for the info...
Enjoyed your reply. Europe is a great place to take your son or daughter to appreciate the other worlds on this planet.
When my son was 10 and playing little league, he insisted on taking his bat, ball, and glove on our trip to Germany. After our daily tourist trips we'd come back and pitch and hit on a soccer field. The local kids came around to watch us and soon joined in. They didn't have gloves so we made a soccer-baseball rule. If they can catch the ball on a one-hop, it's an out. Those kids used their feet to kick the ball up after hitting the turf for a catch and a 'fly-out'. It was a kick watching them.
On his own, my son decided to leave his ball, bat, and glove with his new soccer friends in Bavaria. It was a nice gesture, but I don't think they'll be starting little leagues in Germany any time soon.
Michael, I just wanted to thank you for your always interesting insights into the game.
Despite your understandable bias for Germany, I'm impressed how fair and objective you are in regard to all the teams. I've learned a lot, and become what I thought was impossible - a fussball fanatic.
Please tell me we'll make it past Italy. Don't know if I can take another day of suspense.
My German uncle liked this joke so I'll share it with you.
A communist activist was trying to explain the wonders of communism to a German farmer. He explained, "Under communism, everyone shares equally." Then he asked the farmer, "If you had two houses you would share one wouldn't you? "
The farmer thinks for a minute and says, "Jah"
"And if you had 2 tractors you'd share one right?" the communist continued.
The farmer again thinks and says " Jahwohl "
"And if you had 2 horses you'd share with your neighbor wouldn't you ?"
The farmer looks at the communist and says "Nein !"
"But why not ?" shouted the bewildered communist.
The farmer says, " Ich habe zwei pferde . "
Many thanks also for giving us these great football threads.
LOL!!
LOL, thank you, also for your kind post. I´ll be in Dortmund tomorrow, so I won´t join the next thread. But I´m optimistic that we can beat the Italians. :) We have to if we want to become Weltmeister!
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