Deutschland ist Weltmeister!

beowuuf · Post by **beowuuf** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 8:54 pm

Yeah, i heard from someone at work that actually brazil didn't deserve their win, and that poland actually deserved the match against germany!

Trantor · Post by **Trantor** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 9:05 pm

I think Brazil did deserve their win, but they were far from dominant. About Poland, they played well, but Germany was clearly the better team, especially in the last 30 minutes where Poland did not have one single shot, while Germany had plenty of chances. Scoring in the 91st minute is of course lucky, but they really should have made a goal earlier already.

Post by **PaulH** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 11:04 pm

England weren't at their best, and were vulnerable on the break, but were convincingly better than T&T.

2 out of 2, not conceded a goal... one of the first teams through. Luck?!

Des · Post by **Des** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 11:17 pm

Speaking of late goals, Sweden's winner against Paraguay means the "avoid Germany" situation I mentioned earlier might actually happen.

If Germany v Ecuador is a draw, Ecuador will top group A. So if England want to play Ecuador in the next round rather than Germany, they will need to let Sweden win the final group B game. Sweden however need a point to be sure of qualification, and a draw will mean they will finish second. So you could get England deliberately scoring own goals, and Sweden responding with an own goal equaliser each time, resulting in a very high-scoring draw.

Being senisble, England have yet to hit form so this won't happen. They will most likely field their stongest side and play to win regardless of the Germany v Ecuador result.

Trantor · Post by **Trantor** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 1:14 am

PaulH wrote:England weren't at their best, and were vulnerable on the break, but were convincingly better than T&T.

2 out of 2, not conceded a goal... one of the first teams through. Luck?!

Yeah, but they only scored 2 goals, one of them being illegal as well.

I can't imagine any team scoring own goals deliberately, especially not for England to avoid Germany. We all know how many people - most players included - would love to see that match.

Post by **Lunever** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 7:03 am

Might get nasty if English and German hooligans meet after such a match.

Trantor · Post by **Trantor** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 10:28 am

I really hope it doesn't. So far, it has been relatively quiet, with the exception of the German idiots during Germany-Poland; let's hope we won't see any more such scenes.

Des · Post by **Des** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 8:06 pm

Provided they avoid each other in the next round, England and Germany are destined to meet in the final. The Germans will win on penalties, of course.

Argentina looked superb today against the Serbs, but have they peaked to soon?

sucinum · Post by **sucinum** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 1:49 pm

Trantor wrote:one of them being illegal as well.

We're talking of England -.-

Des · Post by **Des** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 11:12 pm

Really exciting match between the USA and Italy. Good to see some proper foul play for a change instead of all these silly bookings for having an offensive haircut or whatever. At one point I was half expecting violin cases to be brought onto the pitch...

Post by **Sophia** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 11:47 pm

All USA needs to do to win is get the other team to keep scoring them goals, apparently...

Trantor · Post by **Trantor** » Sun Jun 18, 2006 12:48 pm

In the first half, I thought the USA was actually the better team. Too bad they didn't win...

Trantor · Post by **Trantor** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 12:45 am

So it seems the classic Germany vs. England has been postponed until the final... I'd like to see both teams there, but my money for world champion is now officially on Argentina.

Des · Post by **Des** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 7:14 pm

Job done for England. Beckham was over the moon and sick as a parrot at the same time

beowuuf · Post by **beowuuf** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 8:25 pm

And well done germany yesterday - I understand there was somehting like 26 shots at goal that the keeper blocked!

sucinum · Post by **sucinum** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 3:03 am

Sweden was far from a challenge and much worse than Poland. The match against Argentina will be a real tough one for our guys, though, but on the other hand, they weren't too gloryful against Mexico. Same counts for Portugal, which were today as weak as in the group-matches, so i'd say, the only match for Germany is Spain. I wasn't too confident before the World Cup started, but until now, Germany was incredibly strong. In two weeks, it will be official:
Deutschland ist Weltmeister!

Adamo · Post by **Adamo** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 9:22 pm

forza Italia! siete mitici !!!

sucinum · Post by **sucinum** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 7:57 pm

Argentina was strong, but...

Trantor · Post by **Trantor** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 8:05 pm

Deutschland war stärker!

Des · Post by **Des** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 11:14 pm

I think Germany just about shaded it. The Argentinian coach paid the price (his job) for taking off Riquelme and not replacing him with another creative player (e.g Messi) as they were left a bit flat after Germany equalised.

As for the Italians, typical economy of effort. They were cruising at 1-0 when Ukraine nearly scored which made them decide they needed another goal or two.

In a prediction competition at work I might well get all four semi-finalists correct as I went for Germany, Italy, England and Brazil. After that I have Germany to beat Italy, Brazil to beat England then Brazil to beat Germany in the final.

Adamo · Post by **Adamo** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 11:26 pm

you know, last time Italy won the world Championships in `82 (24 years ago!!), and they`re hungry for success. But I`m seriously worried about them

Trantor · Post by **Trantor** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 11:40 pm

I#m almost completely with you Des - only I think Portugal will defeat England. I agree with you, however, that Brazil will once again beat Germany in the final, just like 4 years ago.

beowuuf · Post by **beowuuf** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 11:44 pm

That would be nice, England out AND my sweepstake team carry on through...woohoo!

I actua;;y think Germany could win it, merely because it was my feeling whoever won in germany/argentena would :)

Des · Post by **Des** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 12:02 am

Portugal are also my sweepstake team, but I'd rather England win the cup than I win a few quid. I think the current England squad is brimming with talent and has the potential to go all the way if only they can "hit the zone" which has so far proved an elusive realm for them. England do tend to raise their game against better teams and I'd love them to ram Sepp Blatter's "most boring team" comment down his gullet.

Trantor · Post by **Trantor** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 12:12 am

Yeah, I hope England will finally play a bit better than they did so far. I certainly wouldn't mind them beating Portugal, but right now, I just can't see it.

Isn't it really shameful how the Argentinian players are such bad losers? If there is one thing I can't stand in sports, it's scenes like those at the end of the game.

beowuuf · Post by **beowuuf** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 7:55 pm

Hey, my sweepstake team just got through to the quarter final...i have a slim chance of pulling third prize now. I wonder if everythone will be happy for me at work on monday?

Post by **Gambit37** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 8:55 pm

Post by **PaulH** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 9:05 pm

Well we played shit. Rooney is a disgrace, what was he thinking? The rest of the team were poor.

Ronaldo is a right cheat.

Post by **Gambit37** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 9:16 pm

Didn't watch it -- can't stand footie. But did check the result ocasionally on the bbc website (I'm working on a new portfolio website on the pc today). Result didn't surprise me at all.

beowuuf · Post by **beowuuf** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 9:28 pm

I didn't think much of the portugese goalkeeper during the second half of the match, what few chances he had to save, but he did well in the penalties