Thought I'd start a football blog, we might keep this going until 2010.....England doing well....did not see the match or even the goals....I'd like Michael owen back in the squad though....and I think Peter Crouch would make a very good substitute...remember against Argentina in Geneva a few years ago....with Michael Owen and some very good movements on and off the ball...they caused havoc.....did see Scotland's missed chance....that could be very costly losing those 2 points !.

Fabio Capello to remain England manager

Fabio Capello is to continue as England manager despite England's disastrous World Cup campaign, the Football Association has confirmed.

What did I say about Holland ?....Brazil out !.......the Dutch must be favourites to get to the final now !.......the Brazilian defense is not as good as it seemed : put them under pressure and... et voila !.....Zidane showed it with France and 4 years on : now have Holland......the Cariocas are wonderful going forward but not at defending when pushed back. You have to say that they badly missed Elano who is to me their best forward.

Grieves me to say it, but that was an impressive display by Germany! Got money on Spain, providing they get through tonight will be a cracking semi!

Yep, ...simple football.....it's heading for a possible Germany-Holland final but the Spanish might have something to say about that.....it could be that if the Germans go behind by a goal that they get caught out by their own style of counter attacking football......I doubt if Paraguay will stop the Spanish tonight ....this could be unique that the south americans don't win the cup this time as it always goes : one win Europe and then them and Europe again, but this time could see the old world winning twice in a row and going one up in the number of wins ....
England will have to learn to pass the ball properly and defend to compete against the main countries.

Chrisif you have backed Spainit is as good as money in the Bankthey are head and shoulders above anyone else
Germany exploited a piss poor defenceand a crank?...I will go on record now and say they cannot win the World Cup.even though they are 85/40 favs on Betfair impossible!!!

Spain and the Netherlands are fractions around 9/4 each of two and around 4/6 if you coupled

Brave man Tabby! But I hope your right :o)

Germany very impressive so far, difficult to see any one left who are capable of beating them.

I hope for once Tabby is right, but IMHO Germany will win

Got to admire Emile Heskey ,has a disastrous world cup ,comes home puts a frock on and wins the womens title at Wimbledon.

lol

I would rather admire his Scouse Mrs

I'm thinking that this could be Holland's year....and they can play a lot better than they have, so there is room for improvement......and to lose 3 finals.....that would be unlucky.....in the club competitions...it goes : you win 2. lose 1..along those lines.......so to lose 3 would be against the odds....
Spain can win the semi final, but the Germans are formidable, they would have to be at their very best....and should they get through that, then they might come a cropper up against the Dutch....just can't see Uruguay doing anything...in fact England should be here.....muppets that they are, : what a wasted opportunity !.

Well : the Dutch are there...to me, Forlan is the best player of the world cup !.

Better than Wesley Sneijder??? I don't think so!

It's Spain! Psychic Octopus Makes Choice

An apparently psychic octopus has risked the wrath of his fellow countrymen by predicting Spain will beat Germany in the World Cup semi-final.

The creature, known as Paul, has correctly chosen all of his homeland's results so far.

But with one flick of his tentacle - and ignoring Germany's superb form - he has depressed an entire nation by picking their opponents to triumph.

Two plastic boxes with the flag of each country on the front had been placed into his tank at the Oberhausen Sea Life Centre.

With food in both boxes to attract Paul, it is then a matter of waiting until he opens one of them to determine his predicted winner.

On this occasion, he initially went straight for Spain's container


We all know what happened next...


German hopes were raised as he moved and began to hover over his homeland's flag, but the indecision was brief as he went with his first instinct.

The eight-legged mystic has a perfect record at this tournament - and is said to have had an 80% success rate during Euro 2008.

In what German fans will hope is a good omen, the only tip Paul has ever got wrong is the Germany v Spain final two years ago.

Paul irked England fans by predicting the debacle in Bloemfontein the day before it happened, despite being born in Weymouth.

And to prove he shows no bias, he plumped for Serbia before they defeated Joachim Low's side 1-0 during the group stages.

Rumours that Paul had picked Spain began circulating on Sunday after a picture surfaced showing the octopus choosing the Spanish box.

But, in a flurry of blogging, the image was judged to be a fake with the real prediction not scheduled until the day before the match.

Paul the-Octopus-Predicts-Spain-Will-Beat-Germany-In-World-Cup-Semi-Final-In-South-Africa

video Its SPAIN The Octopus says

Harrycat : he's a good choice but he's on the winning side......either WS or Forlan...both superb players.......interesting story, this octopus one.....frankly if Spain don't buck up : the Germans will win.....could be a "Klose"call.....close call...get it !?....oh ! well never mind....I'm starting to wonder if this German way of catching teams on the counter attack will work as well again, the Spanish will know what to expect and will be wary....no bets from me for this evening,.. yet.....

Champions of the World cup 2010 ?

Not yet sure but one thing is certain is going to be an European country after Holland went through yesterday.

Thought Honda of Japan the best player.

Think Holland are very overrated. A bit more positivity by Uruguay in the second half and they would have won it.

dealerdear - Agree, they aint going to win it. Come on Spain knock the shit out of the arrogant German baaaaaast.... :o)