World Cup - any interest?

[Michael R]

I know there’s a thread in the ‘Lounge’ but I refuse to believe myself & Bick are the only people interested in the World Cup!

Despite my native Ireland not partaking, I’m very much looking forward to it regardless of the late nights and early mornings. Spain are rightfully the bookies favourites, and have seen $20 from me to win it (kiss of death). England look dangerous but missing Rio & a quality keeper with experience might cost them. Argies will need to limit the damage of their lunatic coach to win it, but they’ve certainly got the players.

Unfortunately I cant see the Socceroos qualifying from their group. Having been very optimistic 4 years ago and backed them accordingly, I think the Serbians will go through with the Germans. However I fully expect for blind optimism to kick in before the Germany match and will be supporting them madly.

The Kiwis in the office are comical in their total disregard for the tournament, they’re far more interested in the Test match on Saturday. I know nothing about the All Whites so will avoid commenting on their chances, hopefully some of the kiwi contributors will enlighten.

Thoughts?

[griff]

Many sleepless nights ahead for me! Oh the pain

[Michael McNally]

G'day Michael

I play, watch and follow the world game. Thanks for the thread. I am excited.

I share your pessimism about Australia's chances. We could play well and still lose all three games. We are going to require a lot more luck than four years ago to progress. Not sure Pim has the boys as well prepped as Guus did last time round and it was our superior fitness that helped get us out of the group last time. Fortunately in sport the games don't always finish the way they "should", so we have a chance.

The kiwis have a similar chance of getting out of their group.

This is Spain's big chance to win the WC. England are not a great side IMHO. Apart from Rooney who is going to score goals at this level? Emile Heskey, puleeeeasssee. Argentina will do well.

Tonight's tips
RSA 2 - Mexico 2
Uruguay 2 - France 1

Have a great tournament!

Michael

[griff]

I actually think that Brazil and Spain are the two to beat. I pick Brazil as Spain always seem to choke in the World Cup. I know they won Euro but this is the big one.

cheers

Carl

[Rawshack]

I will be watching, and drinking, with great interest. In fact I might even open up a Giaconda I've got in the cellar for the first game.

My native England will of course be get knocked out in the Quarter finals by a team they should undoubtedly beat. The press will label the players overpaid primadonas and call for the manager to be sacked. In fact, they'll call for a public birching. Questions will be raised in parliament and a somewhat grateful government will use the furore to cover up the sacking of 750,000 public servants.

Also, my beloved Mexico team (Beloved since Blanco in 94) will fight bravely, no doubt worried the drug cartels might arrange a 'Andres Escobar' for them, but loose to some team they really should have beaten.

I will also be looking out for Paraguay as they have 2 Sunderland AFC players in their ranks. 2 more, I hasten to add, than England do. Actually, Chrisian Riveros has been touted as a player to watch during the tournament.

[griff]

I will be watching, and drinking, with great interest. In fact I might even open up a Giaconda I've got in the cellar for the first game.

My native England will of course be get knocked out in the Quarter finals by a team they should undoubtedly beat. The press will label the players overpaid primadonas and call for the manager to be sacked. In fact, they'll call for a public birching. Questions will be raised in parliament and a somewhat grateful government will use the furore to cover up the sacking of 750,000 public servants.

Also, my beloved Mexico team (Beloved since Blanco in 94) will fight bravely, no doubt worried the drug cartels might arrange a 'Andres Escobar' for them, but loose to some team they really should have beaten.

I will also be looking out for Paraguay as they have 2 Sunderland AFC players in their ranks. 2 more, I hasten to add, than England do. Actually, Chrisian Riveros has been touted as a player to watch during the tournament.

Don't tell me you're a Mackem! Stayed a while in Toon a few years ago and it was great fun! Looking forward to the derby now the Barcodes are up again

cheers

Carl

[Loztralia]

I did my spreadsheet a couple of days ago and I had England going out to Serbia in the second round. The England defence is not up to it.

Actually England has the same problem as Australia - going into a tournament with fundamentally the same team as last time, only four years older.

Spain v Brazil final looks the most likely. Hearing lots of good things about Holland, too. I fancy South Korea to be the surprise package.

If we're following teams based on club allegiance my choice is England or Nigeria - Peter Crouch got his first break at QPR and the excellently named Danny Shittu was also something of a folk hero in the Loft.

[Rawshack]

I will be watching, and drinking, with great interest. In fact I might even open up a Giaconda I've got in the cellar for the first game.

My native England will of course be get knocked out in the Quarter finals by a team they should undoubtedly beat. The press will label the players overpaid primadonas and call for the manager to be sacked. In fact, they'll call for a public birching. Questions will be raised in parliament and a somewhat grateful government will use the furore to cover up the sacking of 750,000 public servants.

Also, my beloved Mexico team (Beloved since Blanco in 94) will fight bravely, no doubt worried the drug cartels might arrange a 'Andres Escobar' for them, but loose to some team they really should have beaten.

I will also be looking out for Paraguay as they have 2 Sunderland AFC players in their ranks. 2 more, I hasten to add, than England do. Actually, Chrisian Riveros has been touted as a player to watch during the tournament.

Don't tell me you're a Mackem! Stayed a while in Toon a few years ago and it was great fun! Looking forward to the derby now the Barcodes are up again

cheers

Carl

Mate, not a mackem by birth but SAFC till I die

Can't wait for the derby and 6 easy points

[Rednick]

I'm tipping the dutch to take it, I would love to see England win but I can't see them going further than the Semis.

It would be great if Australia were to get through the first round (hopefully to get beaten by England in the 2nd) but just can't see it.

Lots of early starts and late nights.

Nick

[Craig(NZ)]

The kiwis i expect to be competitive but still not to win a game. played well in all their lead up games whether win or lose. to beat serbia was a great achievement no matter what mitigating factors you may think of

[Rawshack]

The kiwis i expect to be competitive but still not to win a game. played well in all their lead up games whether win or lose. to beat serbia was a great achievement no matter what mitigating factors you may think of

Might do better than Australia. Good luck to you anyway, I hope you cause an upset.

[Attila]

Up at 4:30 am on Monday morning of course...
Have a Grand Cru Champagne on hand should Australia win...and a Yarra Valley sparkling, should Germany become victorious...
A sparkling morning either way...

[rens]

Well, You'd never guess I like the world game... (look right)
Being a dutch born Australian, I have 2 teams in the mix. Australia to go down to England in the round of 16 and the dutch to win the whole bloody thing...
Green Gold and Oranje!

[rens]

The kiwis i expect to be competitive but still not to win a game. played well in all their lead up games whether win or lose. to beat serbia was a great achievement no matter what mitigating factors you may think of

Yes Good luck to our kiwi bro's

[platinum]

I actually think that Brazil and Spain are the two to beat. I pick Brazil as Spain always seem to choke in the World Cup. I know they won Euro but this is the big one.

cheers

Carl

Would be a massive effort if Brazil can win it IMO. They start off with a good warm up but Ivory and Portugal before you have even got out of group stage is far from ideal.

England, Italy and Spain should see out their groups the easiest, whilst Germany well...if they couldnt win at home 4 years ago and the teams no stronger here....I agree with comment above re Argentinas great team but Lunatic coach been a problem

[Red Smurf]

Still up from the big night out and very dissapointed,

Ref aside, Aussies just outclassed and out played by the Germans.
What does everyone else think?

Cheers,
Smurf

[Bick]

Germany obviously better on the day (4-0 can't hide that), but the gulf in class everyone is talking about is an overstatement - they had a good day, aus a poor one - and I think Aus still have a chance in the next 2 games. I doubt they'll go through, but wouldn't exactly write them off just yet. The sending off was an awful decision, I feel badly for Cahill, he's a decent player (even if he is ex-Millwall).

All whites may get a plucky point or two, but wont go through from the group. They have very little genuine skill. The lack of expectation removes all the stress though, and I'm looking forward to the games very much.

England shouldn't focus on the keeper's error - much more conerning to me is that they were basically rubbish. They need to play with some pizzaz next game and actually *pass* the ball to each other as opposed to just head it around midfield like clueless w*%#kers. I've seen my team Reading play with more guile and skill than that.

Interesting to hear you're SAFC Rawshack. I've seen your lot at the Stadium of Fish play mine a few times. We didn't usually get much there.

[Loztralia]

Germany obviously better on the day (4-0 can't hide that), but the gulf in class everyone is talking about is an overstatement - they had a good day, aus a poor one - and I think Aus still have a chance in the next 2 games. I doubt they'll go through, but wouldn't exactly write them off just yet. The sending off was an awful decision, I feel badly for Cahill, he's a decent player (even if he is ex-Millwall).

All whites may get a plucky point or two, but wont go through from the group. They have very little genuine skill. The lack of expectation removes all the stress though, and I'm looking forward to the games very much.

England shouldn't focus on the keeper's error - much more conerning to me is that they were basically rubbish. They need to play with some pizzaz next game and actually *pass* the ball to each other as opposed to just head it around midfield like clueless w*%#kers. I've seen my team Reading play with more guile and skill than that.

Interesting to hear you're SAFC Rawshack. I've seen your lot at the Stadium of Fish play mine a few times. We didn't usually get much there.

Couldn't agree more re England. The lack of decent service to Rooney was terrifying. Gerrard vanished after his goal, Lampard never showed up and while Lennon was quite good his final ball let him down. I don't understand how Heskey's finishing can be as bad as it is. Carragher was just horrible - if he plays again everyone will be lining up to exploit his lack of pace. I am feeling moderately smug as I've been telling everyone to get their mortgage on 1-1 but slightly less so as I didn't have a punt myself. Still, the US aren't a bad side and it could have been a lot worse.

Reading, is it? The plastic hoops...

[Bick]

Reading, is it? The plastic hoops...

Indeed. They're only considered 'plastic' because they have a newish stadium (doesn't everyone these days) and their attendance figures went up when they got into the Prem - hardly a shock. They've also been around since 1871, and I was a season ticket holder when Tommy Burns was manager and we were in the third tier of english footy, so I can hold my head up with honor and minimal plasticity.

None of which sounds very wine-y, so to make some amends... I had an 05 Te Mata Awatea over the weekend and it was better than England... and Australia ... and Reading

[orpheus]

YEs, it was a disappointing result.

Having also watched a few of the other games, Australia probably played better than Greece against South Korea, but were simply outclassed by a German side which is a genuine World Cup contender.

TWo very worrying aspects of their game however; complete lack of incisiveness when in a truly attacking position, and very poor marking when Germany were deep on attack.

Cahill should not have been sent off.

That said, I would say they are vying for last spot with Serbia in this division, and I do not think they will go through. THey are not nearly as good a side as they were 4 years ago.

BTW, I would have had the champagne anyway.

[monghead]

Yes, what a shame... Though we were cheering for the socceroos, we knew it was unlikely we could come up trumps. Hoping for the draw. However, really surprised by the 4-0 trashing... There were large parts of the game when I felt our team lost heart... something which we had in spades the last time around...

my 2 c

[griff]

Not surprised here. Thought it would be 2-0 or 3-0. We don't have a decent striker. The high crosses or a very silly attack option against the tall Germans and we don't have any other it seems. Cahill is small and that made it look even worse. It makes no difference other than Cahill is out for the the next two? games. Certainly against Ghana and that is the one that was always going to be the must-win game. I didn't watch the Ghana-Seriba game so will take a look tonight.

cheers

Carl

[rens]

Not surprised here. Thought it would be 2-0 or 3-0. We don't have a decent striker. The high crosses or a very silly attack option against the tall Germans and we don't have any other it seems. Cahill is small and that made it look even worse. It makes no difference other than Cahill is out for the the next two? games. Certainly against Ghana and that is the one that was always going to be the must-win game. I didn't watch the Ghana-Seriba game so will take a look tonight.

cheers

Carl

I hope it is only one game Griff. Two for that tackle would be a travesty.
The old and slow defense let us down. As soon as they came up to effect an offside trap they were caught short. It happened 10 times, and no amount of arm flapping to the assistant ref is going to make up for it. I agree the high crosses from the wing to Cahill were a wast of time. The Germans are way to tall for that sort of tactic. In short we lacked the speed and skill on this occasion. Hopefully some younger fresh legs for our defense (ie beaucamp) could be in order for the next game.
On the flip side I had 2 Germans in my fantasy league team an I'm now on top of the league. Bitter sweet.

[griff]

Gosh both Ghana and Serbia looked good! Serbia looked a lot better than when they played New Zealand. We are in trouble! Lucky Germany is my second team

cheers

Carl

[Craig(NZ)]

oh well 1:1 last night sounds better than 4:0. 2 more games though!!

[monghead]

oh well 1:1 last night sounds better than 4:0. 2 more games though!!

Yes, beautiful goal that one...

[platinum]

Ha Ha you werent playing a Germany, wish we had them in our group... Italy dont blow teams away like Germany but next game the ball will be like a pinball machine, infact probly the next 2 for NZ

[Bick]

Yep, a great last minute goal, but NZ were rather lucky to get the draw all in all. Slovaks not a great team, so cannot compare with how Aus did against Germany, but glad we got something for the sake of national pride. Don't expect anything from next two games but you never know...

[Michael R]

Yes, beautiful goal that one...

Indeed!

As I knew nothing about the All Whites, I was surprised and delighted to see them play well last night. Couldn’t get over how well they settled from kick off, seemed very organised in terms of strategy and the two big guys up front were a handful. Granted, Slovakia aren’t very strong and were let back into it. But a point is very valuable indeed (i.e. huge monkey of their back), even more so given they were staring at the jaws of defeat.

Overall though (from the matches I’ve seen) I’ve been a little underwhelmed. Really enjoyed the S. Africa V Mexico game, and Messi’s performance, but beyond that its been a somewhat disappointing, possibly due to general the lack of goals. All this debate around the ball & crowd hooters is an unwelcome sideshow. I’m not sure I could handle those hooters for 90 mins if I was at the ground. FIFA will surely learn.

Great to see the fans turn out in Sydneys Darling Park, hopefully FIFA have noticed and will strengthen Australia’s claims for 2022.
Cant wait to see Spain tonight, I expect them to win comfortably (2-0), and Uruguay V S Africa has the hallmarks for some real free flowing excitement.
Obviously Australia looks buried now. The Germans turned in a good performance, and should reach the semis, but I’ll respect their chances more after their next 2 games.

Oh yeah, wine stuff... I opened a 98 Charles Melton Shiraz (langtons punt) on Monday, cork was great, was drinking very well after 30 mins decant.
Enjoy!
Michael

[Craig(NZ)]

We were robbed the slovakians were offside.....