World Cup 2006

[Neo26988]

Moin, Germany have never been defensive (In the sense of the word anyway), but you must admit at the last world cup their football play was hardly exciting. They depended a lot on Ballack. They had no depth up front (Selecting Bierhoff??? He was past it... I believe Bobic was also in the side or at least a fringe consideration?? Can't quite remember).

You won't see Germany defending leads under Klinsmann however. The guy was a striker. Has no idea about defence whatsoever.

BTW: I still firmly believe Italy won't beat Australia, at least not easily. From my understanding, Gattuso isn't fully fit and De Rossi will be out. So that leaves only Perotta to do the heavy work for Pirlo. Get Bresc or Cahill to pressure Pirlo and he'll eventually cough it up.

The biggest key match up, IMHO, however, is determining which of Cannavaro or Materazzi will mark Viduka. If Cannavaro marks Viduka, than the task of beating Italy will be much, much harder. If Materazzi marks Viduka, than we'll probably see Viduka owning Matrix.

Lets see if Italy can get past Lucas Neill.

[Black Night Sea]

Moin, Germany have never been defensive (In the sense of the word anyway), but you must admit at the last world cup their football play was hardly exciting. They depended a lot on Ballack. They had no depth up front (Selecting Bierhoff??? He was past it... I believe Bobic was also in the side or at least a fringe consideration?? Can't quite remember).

Unexciting as they were, they would’ve been beaten with consummate ease by another European country, to have ever gotten themselves a chance of being honoured as proud inventors of “laxative football.”

England has already claimed that title. Ever since the day football was born.

[- L1n -]

Moin, Germany have never been defensive (In the sense of the word anyway), but you must admit at the last world cup their football play was hardly exciting. They depended a lot on Ballack. They had no depth up front (Selecting Bierhoff??? He was past it... I believe Bobic was also in the side or at least a fringe consideration?? Can't quite remember).

You won't see Germany defending leads under Klinsmann however. The guy was a striker. Has no idea about defence whatsoever.

BTW: I still firmly believe Italy won't beat Australia, at least not easily. From my understanding, Gattuso isn't fully fit and De Rossi will be out. So that leaves only Perotta to do the heavy work for Pirlo. Get Bresc or Cahill to pressure Pirlo and he'll eventually cough it up.

The biggest key match up, IMHO, however, is determining which of Cannavaro or Materazzi will mark Viduka. If Cannavaro marks Viduka, than the task of beating Italy will be much, much harder. If Materazzi marks Viduka, than we'll probably see Viduka owning Matrix.

Lets see if Italy can get past Lucas Neill.

LOL Lucas Neil is not that good, and neither is the Australian Defence, if Italy can't get thru that defence, then theres no way in hell Viduka will get thru Italy's Defence, not to mention BUffon is many times better than what either Kalac and Swarch has to offer. Pirlo? i think Australia should be more worried about the strikers and Totti. Any striker Italy has is better than any Australian Forward, they score more goals and are definitely more skilled, even if they play their worst strikers Laquinta and Inzaghi thats still better than Viduka. The odds are against Ausralia in every department of the field, whether it's defence or attack on paper Italy has as good as won the match, but then again that dosen't mean much.

[Neo26988]

L1n, the only forwards for Italy i'm worried about are Totti (For obvious reasons), Toni (Serie A form) and Inzaghi (Very dangerous player, despite being on the bad side of his 30's). Gilardino and Iaquinta are not as dangerous at this point in time. Iaquinta most likely won't see anymore game time in the tournament (assuming Italy knock off Australia) unless there's mass injuries to the forward line. Del Piero hasn't performed to his best abilities for the Azzuri either.

Their defence is one of, if not the best, i agree. However, there IS a weakness- Materazzi. I didn't see the Czech game but from reports he was MotM, correct? I'll be damned if he can do that two games in a row. It won't happen. He's prone to the mind explosion. In saying that, IMO Cannavaro is far good enough to fill in for Materazzi's deficiencies... At least against the Australian attack on paper. However, as you said, on paper it doesn't matter.

Attacknig wise it all starts with Pirlo. he's a defensive liability for them. Pressure him when he's deep and with the ball and he will cough it up. Chances are Gattuso or Perotta will be by his side holding his hand anyway.

Our defence is by far the weakest part of our team, however, this tournament Lucas Neill and Craig Moore have played out of their skins. And TBH, this tournament Lucas Neill has looked a world class defender. He certainly hasn't looked like a 3rd rate defender by any means. On form our defence has been as good as the 80/90's defence.

</End rant>

[Moinllieon]

Moin, Germany have never been defensive (In the sense of the word anyway), but you must admit at the last world cup their football play was hardly exciting. They depended a lot on Ballack. They had no depth up front (Selecting Bierhoff??? He was past it... I believe Bobic was also in the side or at least a fringe consideration?? Can't quite remember).

You won't see Germany defending leads under Klinsmann however. The guy was a striker. Has no idea about defence whatsoever.

Bierhoff was on the squad but I do not believe he played in any matches. Yes, they did depend alot on Ballack, but it's still attacking isn't it?

Oh, Germany's coach for World Cup 2002 and Euro2004 was Rudi Völler, a striker as well. A striker with the same amount of International goals as Klinnsman but did it in 18 less caps. (Who also took over a Germany squad that struggled in Euro2000 and took a group of young no-hopers to the Finals. Just thought I could point out some similarities.)

[NetDriftr]

i'm taking the pessimistic view that Australia will lose to Italy. My optimism was totally crushed when Brazil kicked the Socceroos butt

[- L1n -]

L1n, the only forwards for Italy i'm worried about are Totti (For obvious reasons), Toni (Serie A form) and Inzaghi (Very dangerous player, despite being on the bad side of his 30's). Gilardino and Iaquinta are not as dangerous at this point in time. Iaquinta most likely won't see anymore game time in the tournament (assuming Italy knock off Australia) unless there's mass injuries to the forward line. Del Piero hasn't performed to his best abilities for the Azzuri either.

Their defence is one of, if not the best, i agree. However, there IS a weakness- Materazzi. I didn't see the Czech game but from reports he was MotM, correct? I'll be damned if he can do that two games in a row. It won't happen. He's prone to the mind explosion. In saying that, IMO Cannavaro is far good enough to fill in for Materazzi's deficiencies... At least against the Australian attack on paper. However, as you said, on paper it doesn't matter.

Attacknig wise it all starts with Pirlo. he's a defensive liability for them. Pressure him when he's deep and with the ball and he will cough it up. Chances are Gattuso or Perotta will be by his side holding his hand anyway.

Our defence is by far the weakest part of our team, however, this tournament Lucas Neill and Craig Moore have played out of their skins. And TBH, this tournament Lucas Neill has looked a world class defender. He certainly hasn't looked like a 3rd rate defender by any means. On form our defence has been as good as the 80/90's defence.

</End rant>

Yeh but here where Italy will be different, if pirlo gets pressured he will use his wingers more instead of passing thru the central of the Austral;ian midfield, Camronesi is gonna give the Aussise wingers a hard time. So is grosso, yeh most of the italian strikers are not playing to full potential, but if we take raw talent alone there are already more talented than viduka, anything can happen in the world cup, it only takes 1 goal to boost a strikers morale.

[Temujin]

Yay! Italy couldn't pass the Aussie goalkeeper in the first half.

Let's see if they can break this 0-0 stalemate in the second half.

[Temujin]

Yessssssssssss!!!!!!! Italy 1 : Australia 0

Unbelievable, down to the wire, I really felt bad for the Aussies, the game ended in the last second with the penalty shot.

[NetDriftr]

bloody ref's fault!!! how could he call that a penalty kick?
i swear theres some conspiracy with the referees...

[Neo26988]

... That really hurt...

[Neo26988]

Getting my composure back (Somewhat)..

Moin, my point wasn't Germany's attack, it was all about Germany being boring.

Moving on...

... Oh well, the national team did Australia proud. Passed expectations and almost went through. Best of luck to Italy. I hope they win the competition now.

[hIpHoPgIrL]

Now I think maybe Germany!!!Before I thought Brazil or Argentinia!!Now I've change my opinion!!Germany!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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!!The Footballplayer!!
1 Jens Lehmann Arsenal Tor 10.11.1969
12 Oliver Kahn FC Bayern München Tor 15.06.1969
23 Timo Hildebrand VfB Stuttgart Tor 05.04.1979
21 Christoph Metzelder Borussia Dortmund Abwehr 05.11.1980
2 Marcell Jansen Borussia Mönchengladbach Abwehr 04.11.1985
3 Arne Friedrich Hertha BSC Berlin Abwehr 29.05.1979
6 Jens Nowotny Bayer Leverkusen Abwehr 11.01.1974
4 Robert Huth FC Chelsea Abwehr 16.08.1984
16 Philipp Lahm FC Bayern München Abwehr 11.11.1983
17 Per Mertesacker Hannover 96 Abwehr 29.09.1984
15 Thomas Hitzlsperger VfB Stuttgart Mittelfeld 05.04.1982
13 Michael Ballack FC Bayern München Mittelfeld 26.09.1976
18 Tim Borowski Werder Bremen Mittelfeld 02.05.1980
8 Torsten Frings Werder Bremen Mittelfeld 22.11.1976
19 Bernd Schneider Bayer 04 Leverkusen Mittelfeld 17.11.1973
7 Bastian Schweinsteiger FC Bayern München Mittelfeld 01.08.1984
5 Sebastian Kehl Borussia Dortmund Mittelfeld 13.02.1980
22 David Odonkor Borussia Dortmund Mittelfeld 21.02.1984
14 Gerald Asamoah FC Schalke 04 Angriff 03.10.1978
11 Miroslav Klose Werder Bremen Angriff 09.06.1978
9 Mike Hanke VfL Wolfsburg Angriff 05.11.1983
20 Lukas Podolski 1. FC Köln Angriff 04.06.1985
10 Oliver Neuville Borussia Mönchengladbach Angriff 01.05.197

[Temujin]

Now, I am really really hoping Ghana can upset Brazil, it will be an exciting football, two teams of high energy and speed, as well as individual talent.

I hope England can beat Portugal, but I doubt it, and the winner of England vs Portugal will face the winner of this World Cup.

[Moinllieon]

Getting my composure back (Somewhat)..

Yeah, take your time, that one's rough.

Moin, my point wasn't Germany's attack, it was all about Germany being boring.

Moving on...

Well, I think excitement is a subjective thing. I think you are referring to variations in attacking options. But that's overrated, England has quite alot of options in attack, they all suck and are boring (unless you are into the whole dark comedy thing). So it's a very subjective thing. For me, I've never found Germans to be boring. Do they lack the extra flair of the Brazilians on the ball? Yeah, but that doesn't necessarily put them below the Dutch or the French in terms of boringness (and God knows they are better than the English). Even flair is subjective. Does a quick one-two consist of less flair than a nice dribble? Tough to say.

... Oh well, the national team did Australia proud. Passed expectations and almost went through. Best of luck to Italy. I hope they win the competition now.

Well, I hope they don't win, there are too many better squads and for them to win would mean that those better teams don't. I like the Italian players individually, but they've been pretty cynical thus far in this tourney, even for them. Too bad, they are definitely attacking more/better than in the last couple of WCs, thanks to Pirlo.

[Temujin]

Haha, the Ukranians won, I think Italy should walk over them though, although not as easy as I thought I would be.

Just please, don't let the overrated Brazillians win this World Cup again, but the bottom half of the quarterfinal looks like it's going to be Italy vs Brazil or Spain. I would love to see either Ghana or the Spaniard knocking out Brazil.

I hate to see the Germans win this one, playing in Germany, but they certainly have a very good chance here if they can knock out the Argentinians. Sorry the way the English play so far, I have no symphathy for them, even though I like them.

[c13:4567]

haha, i love this ghana team!

even though they are not ghana win this match.

[KJ]

haha, i love this ghana team!

even though they are not ghana win this match.

Offside traps are killing them.

[Temujin]

Ghana had their chances throughout the game, the score is not a good reflection of the game though, as Ghana had so many shots and chances but couldn't put the ball into the net. Oh well, now with 10 players, and 3-0, it's all over.

I suspect Brazil vs Spain.

[Black Night Sea]

If teams don’t take their chances when they get them, they don’t deserve to win the game. Brazil only had 2 shots off target whereas Ghana had 12.

Sometimes it’s all about producing something out of nothing that matters in big games. There’s a fine line between rubbish teams and quality ones.

Congrats to Ronaldo for scoring his record-breaking 15th goal in the World Cup tournament.