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.
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