World Cup 2010 Thread

[estebanmon]

Hopefully Bielsa will have learnt that we(Chile) can't play without a striker, Paredes comes on and we start looking waaaay more dangerous, AND score the goal. Still awesome that we beat the swiss, especially since he subbed out all his strikers to hold the result and was the screwed over by this.

I think Chile-Spain will be a goalfest. If Sanchez and Suazo get their game together we can score on the break as we did so often when playing away during the qualies. The other team, would head out to attack, we stole the ball in midfield and knocked it up quickly. This is like a Bielsa specialty, and hopefully it'll work against Spain, as we haven't had a chance to see it against Honduras and the swiss, who were both playing defensively. Friday is going to be brilliant!

If we lose, we have to lose 1-0 and have Switzerland win by the same amount. That way we finish with exactly the same goal diference and we go through because we beat them. I wouldn't count on th swiss playing counter against Honduras, though. They just might.

[Lineker]

Some France players are considering boycotting their final group game. Apparently this has not gone down well back home and an investigation has already been called for by Parliament. Sacre Bleu!

On other mutinous fronts, Capello tells Terry that he made a 'big mistake', and Sulley Muntari has gone grovelling back to his Ghana squad. What is it with this World Cup?

[The Quasi Juice]

Some France players are considering boycotting their final group game. Apparently this has not gone down well back home and an investigation has already been called for by Parliament. Sacre Bleu!

On other mutinous fronts, Capello tells Terry that he made a 'big mistake', and Sulley Muntari has gone grovelling back to his Ghana squad. What is it with this World Cup?

There has been something wrong with the French team since 2006. They reached the World Cup final but even then Zidane said Domenech doesn't connect well with the team. 2008 they get slaughtered by Holland and go out first round. Hopefully the same will happen this time, Uruguay - Mexico to draw please...

What was Terry's big mistake, because I saw the press conference and didn't really notice anything strange?

Muntari is just bitter because the coach chose other less known players ahead of him and they are doing great.

This is a great World Cup

[Blue Rosler]

I hope Germany play Jerome Boateng in the Boateng Loser Leaves Town match tomorrow.

[Dingle]

Sometimes I get annoyed with the commentators for ITV and BBC but I think I would boycott football if I had to listen to commentary like this...

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=105547198#pm_cmp=vid_OEV_P_P

Edited June 22, 2010 by Devil In Jouzy City

[METALMAN]

Domenech is an idiot. Anyone remember him refusing to pick Robert Pires because he was a scorpio?

I still love him though.

[GoN_]

Sometimes I get annoyed with the commentators for ITV and BBC but I think I would boycott football if I had to listen to commentary like this...

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=105547198#pm_cmp=vid_OEV_P_P

The sound is from a radio station.

[Gazz]

I'd rather listen to that than them mentioning Cristiano Ronaldo every 30 seconds, regardless of what was happening on the pitch.

[Dingle]

Sometimes I get annoyed with the commentators for ITV and BBC but I think I would boycott football if I had to listen to commentary like this...

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=105547198#pm_cmp=vid_OEV_P_P

The sound is from a radio station.

I'm aware it's not from a TV station (cause I can see the BBC logo) but my point still remains.

[stokeriño]

What was Terry's big mistake, because I saw the press conference and didn't really notice anything strange?

As far as I can tell, there are two possible angles that are being taken. The first is that it was suggesting in public that Joe Cole should play (although he didn't actually say this, he said Joe was very good, able to unlock defences etc., which isn't the same thing). If you do accept the narrative that he effectively said "Capello should pick X team" (even though he didn't), then yes, he strayed over the line in answering one of the questions, because that wouldn't be his place to say.

The other is that he was apparently taking a public airing to internal squad 'unrest' (see my earlier post's reference to the media clamouring for MUTINY MUTINY MUTINY). What he actually did was answer questions honestly and say that they'd behave like adults and talk about any problems they had in the squad, if indeed they had any. He actually said right there and then that "There is no unrest in the camp at all" (a direct quote). Yet apparently this meant he was going to get a gang together and ambush Capello??? The media has portrayed Terry as the leader of an attempted player revolt, but in fact Terry spent a great deal of time in the press conference being protective/supportive of Capello; something the media's interpretation of it all has chosen to ignore.

And Capello's response to all of this? Frankly, I'm not at all impressed. Firstly, he appears to accept the media's interpretation of John Terry as if fact. Secondly, he criticises Terry for airing things in public that shouldn't be aired, whilst doing exactly the same thing himself in the process (this is by no means the first example of Capello contradicting himself, e.g. "I will only pick players who are physically fit and playing regularly for their club"). And thirdly, he uses the cop-out line "my door is always open". That's what business executives say when they're being incompetant and want to shift the blame onto their staff for not doing their job for them. :/

[EddieG]

Sometimes I get annoyed with the commentators for ITV and BBC but I think I would boycott football if I had to listen to commentary like this...

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=105547198#pm_cmp=vid_OEV_P_P

The sound is from a radio station.

I'm aware it's not from a TV station (cause I can see the BBC logo) but my point still remains.

Without looking at the video, is it the alternative commentary with Chris Moyles?

[TCO]

Oh dear, Patrice Evra has just been dropped by France for taody's game against South Afirca. It keeps getting better

[Lineker]

They're even taking their luggage to the game with them!

[Hobo]

RTE are showing the France/RSA game. It will be 90 minutes of griping and laughing if it goes wrong.

[Crybaby Bunting]

I'm a little 50:50 re: the entire France situation.

On one hand this is the greatest way of getting rid of all the dead weight in the squad without people throwing hissy fits about getting dropped... now there's absolutely no reason for the next manager to pick half of the squad by default.

On the other... they could be in the Semi-Finals if they'd just sacked the fucking coach beforehand

[Hobo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlWkUYWSpCw

This is how RTE did the start of coverage of the World Cup.

[TCO]

Ah you've got to love Eamon Dunphy and Johnny Giles. Watching them, with Liam Brady and Bill O'Hurlihy was worth watching RTE alone for, with all hteir angry old-men bickering and what not.

[Powerhart]

South Africa might have a better chance at qualifying now that the whole France squad is a complete wreck. They just need to win by 2 goals (and that Mexico/Uruguay lose by 2 or more) doesn't look too hard, but it's RSA and they're playing that Loose Cannon of France, so anything can happen.

[Powerhart]

Can't believe he missed.

[HailtotheYo]

BAFANA BAFANA !

LOL FRANCE !