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

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

tables and results

Lee, you must be chuffed to bits, I didn't see the Italy game but everyone was talking about what a great game it was yesterday, can't see them losing against France.

certainly hope not, pete. should be a cracker of a final. france, an ageing team, zidane's last game, henry with a point to prove, the team finding their confidence and form, against italy, a team playing against a backdrop of scandal and corruption, totti starting to play for the team and not for totti, rock solid at the back , del piero's last chance, the team playing with style and confidence and enjoying themselves. what a game it's building up to be ......... which means the teams will cancel each other out and it will be a dull, drab game !!!! :)
poor portugal, their lack of a striker told in the end. such good approach play but no one there to finish it all off. some disgraceful theatrics by both teams, hopefully, that's the last we'll see of that!!! and probably the last we'll see of figo, what a player!!

A disappointly dull match last night, I thought. I switched on just in time to see ZZ take his penalty shot (didn't I say France would get lucky against Portugal?) but then France's playing got steadily more uninspired as the second half went on and if there had been another 10 mins' play then it could have been a very different story. I think the French had better find some motivation quickly if they are to have a hope of dispatching the Italians.

Gut feeling is telling me the Portuguese may just sneak it in the fight for third place - in spite of the Germans looking to be much better at getting the ball near the white spindly objects at the ends of the pitch. In the games I've seen, Portugal always seem to spoil it for themselves by firing their shots from about 500 yards and either sending the ball into orbit or giving the goalie all day to react. Maybe they'll manage to find a way to keep the ball within the stadium come the weekend.

Germany 3rd, Italy 2nd, and France 1st.
Italy will fail at the last hurdle just like they did last time. The lack of strikers will be the end, Luca Toni is basically a brutal donkey who had a good season, rather like Darren Bent. Del Piero is an ageing old boy who got lucky and Totti is shameful.

mr potts, i'm very happy with your predictions considering you've got fcuk all else right in this tournament !! :) could've done with france having a tougher game than the gentle workout they got last night, but, i think italy will be too srong for them. the only thing that worries me about france is the pace they have up front. bvut, then gain, the way this defence has played this tournament i think the french will be more concerned in trying to figure out a way through.

They ll breeze through your defence, do you still have Zambezi ( or Gianluca Zambrotta ) at right back? I havent really followed Italy but I heard about an injury to him. He could be a good buy for Chelski this season when Juve begin their challenge of the Italian Division Two Title.

Post deleted by Moderator.

blimey, was his next prediction that bad ?

Tipped Italy to win :-))

What the hells a moderator?

I didnt even write anything bad!

The moderator is like the referee - he sends people off for bad behaviour! Although I'm sure that you wrote nothing to cause anyone any offence, GDP.

Here's a thought - what are we all going to do next week when it's all over?

By a quirk of rotten planning, the Wombles will also cease wimbling on Sunday, so there'll be no tennis. I only found out last week that Maria Sharapova is 6' 2" and am still recovering from the shock. It didn't help her beat Slugger Mauresmo though.

Which means that the only thing left that's worth watching (at least here in the land of Beer and Lukas Podolski, if you can't be bothered with all of that Satellite-and-Subscription jiggery-pokery) is the World Touring Car Championship. Which only stages races a minimum of eighteen months apart when Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn are in alignment and there's a double "z" in the month.

I fear I am about to be bereft of sport on TV.

Amities / ST ...So much for your predictions !! ,,, hehe ,,We have now beaten Spain , Brazil , Portugal ......and will beat ltaly who have a poor record V France . l feel we deserve it . And it would serve as a great accolade to the end of the career of one of the finest attacking midfielders to have graced the game. Namely ZZ ,,, ltaly are nothing special with ageing players and inflated ego's ......The WC is as good as in Paris !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ,,,,err again within years 8 years .....@+

Errm, TFC, the thing about my predictions is that so far they have been correct - Italy and France are in the final! I will grant you your right to laugh at me only if France win.

And "deserve" has nothing to do with it. Although I haven't consulted the FIFA regulations I believe that the final will, like all the previous matches, be decided according to which team scores the most goals :o)

Bonne chance quand-meme !!

whoaaaaaaaaa!! tfc, hold your feckin' horses!!! france have spluttered and stuttered through this tournament , only playing when zidane plays. italy will make zidane ineffective as they did in euro 2000. with better finishing than on that night and a wrong will be righted. the trophy will be in rome. cannavaro should be player of the tournament but zidane will win it because people are monkeys and think what the press tell them to think. italy will triumph because they are the better team and they need it more than france.

Thank you, Bosley. My round - what do you fancy?

I agree with your comment that Italy need it, Bos - at least they actually showed some will to win out there against Germany. France didn't convince me that they actually want to win.

E!Amities / Sorry ST. l confused your posting with that of someone else of which i cant be arsed scrolling back ........But lets face it when a tean can attain a result whilst playing poorly then surely when everything clicks they will be awesome !!! Of all the players plying their trade in t he English League the only one who has the guile,ballskills , and awareness and vision of ZZ is D. Berkamp...and he is Dutch Also both Steve McManaman { ex of Liverpool } and David Beckham were brought to Real Madrid as mere feeders to ZZ . Underestimate this man at your peril ! .He is mustard !.. Ello again BOS Why do you say ltalia NEED this cup ?? Why exactly ? Specially when FRANCE deserve it !!!! You know that -Dont stay in denial ,,lol

cannavaro small man but a giant in stature, he has tremendous vision and will snuff
zidane and henry out........1/0 to Italy.........