germany 2006 begins in a few weeks. time to get a thread going for anyone's thoughts and opinions.

all the latest world cup news




ah ......the beautiful game!! joga bonita!!

tables and results

Football is not on its own. Rules for the sake of rules have permeated every sport. Soccer may lead the way with stupid directives, like the one about ball boys not able to enter the pitch. How many times have we seen a game held up by a player running 50 yards to kick a ball off the pitch when there is a ball boy 5 feet away?
Even my beloved cricket is not immune, though it is more steadfast in its tradition.
A few years ago a rule was introduced that any player under 19 batting, or within 15 yards of the batsman while fielding has to wear a helmet.
Result? You now see 18 year olds in village second teams batting against a 60 year old spinner and having to wear a helmet, with a kid behind the stumps in one too!!! Ridiculous. The bowler would have a coronary if he tried to get that much bounce froma local village green!!
The long term result is even more worrying. We are developing a generation of batsmen who are less mobile than ever before, because they have no need to learn the concentration and speed required to get out of the way of a 90mph ball aimed squarely at your head. Concentration and speed of movement are everything when batting.
It is about time the busy bodies, do-gooders and businessmen left sport well alone and allowed those who know it, love it and play it to rule it with sense and sportsmanship.
Nuff said.
Alan

To my mind, the worst rule ever invented in any sport was the offside rule in football. Oh, and being penalised for a foul!!
kim

they arn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but fifa do deserve a lot of credit for many of the rule changes that have made the game better. for instance, the backpass rule, the tackle from behind, and now the two-footed lunge. these rule changes have helped speed up the game and have allowed the more skillful players to play. all anyone need do is think back to pre 1990. how many games died a death because winning teams played 20 minutes of keeper to right back , then back to keeper then keeper to left back then back to keeper, and so on and so on. think back to the plethora of truly dull games world cups used to produce. think back to the treatment of truly great players like maradonna and baggio, how many times they got tackled two footed from behind before the refs gave the opponent a yellow. these rule changes allow players like rooney to shine and show their skill.

I would have done that but for 10mil a year less!!

Are you happy to know that someone already knows the result of World Cup games beforre you start watching them?

Im not, they are so currupt its not funny. Tickets should be a tenner and available to football fans not 100 euros and impossible to get!

kim, might i advise to go and watch bastetball!

mindless excitement non stop, but why do they bother to play for more than 3 mins, its only the last 3 mons thats exciting!!

Pommy, I'm inclined to write something contrary about conspiracy theories, but am not going to because the aliens who abducted me and implanted a camera behind my eyeball in order to observe our species more closely would be able to read it.

On the other hand, your longer post, almost made a good point about sport achieving more for world peace than politics, so I'll give you five out of ten.

PS if "someone already knows the result of World Cup games beforre (sic) you start watching them", would they be kind enough to post the scorres :o) on a thread on MoneyAM (EPIC: FIX) so we can avoid the tedium of watching ghastly matches like Argentina vs The Netherlands last week.

Could well be the best days football today,all 4 teams like to attack

Goal feast for sure.

big bad al, you know what's going to happen now you've said that!!!
pommy, i wont argue with you about the way fifa run the financial side of the game. it certainly does leave a sour tatste in the mouth, but footbal endures and survives the surrounding bullshit because , when all is said and done, it is still about what happens on the pitch that matters most. that is why we still watch and love the game. the rest of it could disappear tomorrow for all i care. the game would still go on.

brazil through . scoreline says 3-0 but i didn't think they were that convincing.

France through

come on , jimmy, do it properly, lad !!

as much as it pains me to say it, i have to say that france were fantastic tonight against a very good spannish side, probably the best spannish team since usa '94. these old guys just don't know when to quit!!!! having seen how many chances the ghanaians created this afternoon against the "mighty" brasil france definately have a good chance to make the semis.
superb line-up for the quarter finals. pretty much all the big boys are there,5 europeans. 2 south american and 1 eastern bloc. as fun as it was four years ago when teams like turkey , south korea and senegal did very well, this is a far more exciting line-up. what a cracking tournament !!!

Zz on top form,but why did spain take off there top scorer,,,,,again !!

feels like something is missing ..........

There's always Wimbledoom Bosley!
kim

Stupid Espana! That racist Aragones plays such poor tactics, how can you consider playing Raul!
Have you ever been so bored during the Swiss Ukraine game?

arrrrggggghhhhhhhhh this is hurting!!!! don't like cold turkey !!!

??????????????? i don't get it bos .