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 know some of you love this sport ..... but I'd rather watch competitive dry cleaing....
Ping!
Which part of "I hope the thread title is clear enough. If the subject isn't of interest, please stay away. This is a World Cup discussion thread, not a "which sport is better" discussion thread" don't you understand?
Extreme ironing does actually exist as a contest (I'm not sure sport is the right description). It rules, as does soccer :o)
Day 4 Thread (for those who missed it)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1647758/posts
SO what kind of results could possibly get the US team out of group? Anything really?
It kills me they played so bad yesterday. Made me sad... :-(
I don’t think the USA will escape the group. Italy looked good. Even beating Ghana will be tough.
I am looking forward to seeing Brazil play. Apart from anything else I have Adriano in my fantasy team and I’ve not seen him play before :oO
France might be an interesting one. They still haven’t looked like showing much spark in the games I’ve seen them play but they have been getting the results.
Good luck with that.
Cross country ballroom dancing
Nope. Not after the effort I saw yesterday. We were badly outplayed.
That said, I hope I am wrong and we can turn things around.
I thought we had a 45% chance to advance coming into this WC.
My new thoughts are we have about a 10% chance to advance.
We need to beat Italy, we all know that, but Italy has far better players technically speaking and know that they likely would only need a draw from us to advance (considering the goal differential).
The Italians will be watching for the CZE/GHA result (that game is first up Saturday). If the Czechs win, the Italians will probably bunker down and play very conservatively. A tie is all they need to advance at that point.
“We need to beat Italy, we all know that, but Italy has far better players technically speaking and know that they likely would only need a draw from us to advance (considering the goal differential).”
Your consolation is that Italy will be looking to win, if they have any sense. (Likely) Avoiding Brazil is a BIG incentive not to draw against you guys.
The bottom line is that the US doesn't have anybody that puts fear into their opponents. Midfielders and forwards are especially weak. Granted, they are better, but they are still not ready for this level of competition.
Washington Post: Different World for U.S.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/12/AR2006061200761.html
Yep, I have adopted the Aussies as my team. I think they will advance to the knockout round.
(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-)
Half time Togo 1- Korea 0.
If you see the celebration of TOGO goal, that sums up the World Cup. It brings joy, tears and passion to people around the world. Beautiful game.
Yeah but you have to admit that watching five guys change tires and fill up a gas tank is pretty exciting and those guys are pretty athletic. I'll bet any one of those tire-changers could last at least three minutes running up and down a soccer field.
Then there's the whole Dale "Angel" Earnhardt thing. Dude was considered a dirty driver by many and his nickname was "The Intimidator" -- yet he dies on the track and becomes St. Dale.
The other point about world football vs. US football is that world football is capitalistic -- the teams that advance the furthest make the most money, both on a club and international level. There are rich teams and poor teams. The weak get relegated and the strong get promoted.
US Football, by contrast, is Communist -- TV revenues are shared, there is a hard salary cap, the weaker you are the better your draft position and the easier your schedule -- it's all right out of the Karl Marx playbook.
Never respond to a troll or a flame.
Instead you should always report trolling and flaming. By reporting posts (and posters) you insure the mods see problems a timely manner.
"I never thought about applying the Falkland's war to it, that would make a good rivalry."
You basically take one dirty game in 1966 where the England manager said the Argentines were “like animals” (they took exception to this), stir things up with the Falklands war, through on some petrol with Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal and then put the whole fuel dump on with Diego Simeone getting David Beckham sent off in 1998. I also think the Argentines reckon Michael Owen dived to get a penalty when we beat them in 2002.
So what you’re left with is a pretty heated encounter whenever the two sides meet. I love it – it’s a proper international football rivalry.
Still doesn't approach El Salvador - Honduras!
It's about as fun as watching a highway!
No, but most pundits had us picked for 3rd in the group before play began.
I can't think that the US camp is in as much dissarray as they were in '98 with some of the Sampson/Harkes/Waldo drama...but harder facts usually surface after the games are done.
And speaking of done, my guess is that Bruce Arena may be tendering his resignation come July; no matter how well we do from here.
I watched a replay of the US game last night. Understand I like soccer, but I've never really followed it until this year. The US team looked bad to me. Compared to the other games I've seen recently
Looking forward to seeing it tonight in the highlights. Hopefully they can hold on. That seems like a tall order though. The South Koreans seemed very disciplined to me in the last World Cup.
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