The FIFA World Cup thread!

[psychicdragon]

I'm surprised no one's talking about the World Cup here. On just about every other site I frequent, it's all people are talking about.

I hung out in a Cafe on Commercial Drive all day today drinking espressos, so I caught all three of the games. After the Italian team won their match things got pretty wild, traffic was completely deadlocked for ages due to all the Italians (and myself); it was great . I can only imagine what things are like in Germany, one day.....

Too bad the games start so early in our time-zone or we could start drinking .

How about that Japanese "goal" today? Thank god the Aussies were able to score in the end or that would have been an absolute travisty.

The Italian team was quite strong, but so far the Czech Republic seems to be the team to beat. Their midfield was absolutely brilliant vs. USA, the Americans were completely outclassed. I'm looking forward to seeing the Brazillian, and South Korean teams tomorrow.

Okay, I'm off to bed. I have to get up early tomorrow.

[Sonique]

so far the Czech Republic seems to be the team to beat.

We haven't seen Brazil or France yet! It will be interesting how they perform. I live in England, so support England 100%!

[psychicdragon]

We haven't seen Brazil or France yet! It will be interesting how they perform. I live in England, so support England 100%!

My Dad's British, so he's supporting the English side. They didn't look great in their opener though; I'd say they were fairly lucky to pick up 3 points. They're still a safe bet to win their group though, especially considering how dreadful the Swedes seem to be playing.


Must go to bed now...

[zugu]

Sweden, Poland and Japan ruined my bets. Especially Japan. (I'm no betting addict, it's just a game run by the corporation I work for - symbolic prizes )

[Hanj]

Hehe, I just saw this in a forum. For those who don't speak Swedish, the poster says he heard his neighbour getting upset after the Sweden-Trinidad game. Then he heard a loud crash and looked out of the window and took those photos
I really felt like doing the same thing after that worthless game.

[drummer]

w00t!!1 GO SOCCEROOS!! Australia 3 - Japan 1
Bring it on Brazil!!

[G Morgan]

I wouldn't underestimate England, the one thing they can do is defend so they will get out of their group (they only need to beat Trinidad & Tobago to advance anyway and with all due respect to them I think England should manage that comfortably). The reason they looked so dreadful against Paraguay (bar a crap referee) was they took Owen off to protect him for the later stages. When Rooney gets fit and Owens fitness improves as well we will see a much stronger England attack. Anyway I'm just pointing out that the Paraguay game shouldn't be taken as the be all and end all given the tactical considerations of leaving Crouch as a sole striker.

Personally I can't see anyone other than Brazil winning the tournument though. There are certainly a lot of European and South American teams capable of knocking them out but it would take a team going up against them and not treating them like they walk on a different plane to everyone else. So far nobody has had the guts to treat them as human and until they do Brazil will be very difficult to beat. Probably the most likely scenario where Brazil lose is a South American team knocks them out (familiarity from constant competition) and then the rest of the tournument would be open.