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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBZ7HddZnLc&search=materazzi

Materazzi in action !!!!!

Ian

Personally I'm disgusted by the lot of them - can't believe that someone on 60,000 a week can't afford to learn some manners.

soultraders, i agree. the least he could have done was say "excuse me" before headbutting him !! ;)

Reminds me of the definition of a gentleman as being "a man who would doff his hat before hitting a lady".

incredible news, but understandable.


Marcello Lippi has resigned as coach of Italy after leading his country to a fourth World Cup title.
Despite widespread calls for him to stay at the helm after Italy's win over France he says the time is right to go.

"I believe that I have achieved what I set out to achieve as coach of the Italian team," Lippi declared.

The 58-year-old feels he and his son, Davide, were attacked personally in the match-fixing and corruption scandal tainting Italy's domestic game.

After two years and 17 days in charge, Lippi said his decision came at the end of "an extraordinary professional and personal experience", but he did not reveal his future plans.

"I want to thank the federation for the confidence it had in me during the last two years of work crowned by a result that will rest in the annals of Italian football and live on in the memory of our fans," he added.

Italian Federation vice president Giancarlo Abete said Lippi had told him during the second round of the World Cup that he intended to quit regardless of his team's performance.

In a statement, Abete praised Lippi for his "extraordinary professionalism and his ability leading the team."

Lippi turned down a new contract before the World Cup began and failed to attend a meeting with the Italian Federation on Tuesday.

He was said to be tired of hearing his name mentioned in connection with the match-fixing scandal involving four top Serie A clubs, including champions Juventus, with whom he won five Serie A titles and the 1996 Champions League in two stints as coach between 1994 and 2004.

While he is not under investigation, Lippi was questioned by prosecutors before the World Cup about alleged pressure he received to select certain players for Italy's national team.

Davide Lippi works at a player agency linked to the scandal and is under investigation for "illegal competition with threats and violence".

Lippi took over from Giovanni Trapattoni after Italy's poor performance at Euro 2004.

In two years in charge Lippi lost just two matches - a 2-0 defeat on his debut against Iceland and a 1-0 loss in World Cup qualifying against Slovenia.

But following that reverse Italy went 25 games unbeaten, a run, their longest since 1939, that culminated in a first world title since 1982 and a leap up the world rankings to second behind Brazil.

The World Cup final finished 1-1 before Italy won the shoot-out 5-3 and Lippi described the victory as "the most satisfying moment of my life".

He was recently linked with a move to Manchester United as a potential successor to Sir Alex Ferguson.

But the Italian was quick to reject the speculation - citing his lack of English as his reason for not moving to the Premiership - and United also denied the rumours.

Italy's next fixture is a Euro 2008 qualifier at home to Lithuania on 2 September before a re-match against France in Paris four days later.

They are in Group B which also includes Ukraine, Scotland, Georgia and Faroe Islands.

Claudio Gentile, Alberto Zaccheroni and Roberto Donadoni are the early front-runners to replace Lippi

UPDATE -Saddam Hussein has been found guilty!

BAGHDAD, July 04 (Reuters) - Saddam Hussein has been found guilty of war crimes and has been sentenced to death by firing squad.

The Court has granted his last request which was to name his own firing squad.

Mr. Hussein chose Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher from 12 yards.

Good riddance to BAD rubbish.

So the end of the world cup signals 2 things.
A start to the euro 2008 campaign and the start of the bidding to host the 2014 world cup.
I have heard through the grapevine that Italy have already submitted a bid to Sepp Blatter to host the cup in 2014, and it is a very strong one. It includes 20 million euros in a Swiss bank account, unlimited weekend use of a castle in tuscany and 3 nights with a Playboy model of Sepps choice.
Meanwhile Zinadine Zidane has revealed that he only came back into football at the insistance of his sponsors, I can't believe its not butter.
The betting has started on Euro 2008, with England 4/6 to go out on penalties. A slightly more tempting bet is on England winning the handicapped version of the same competition with a line-up that includes Owen, with only one working leg, lampard, who officially has 2 left feet, Rooney under the mentally impaired rules and Ferdinand because all camels should have at least one hump. If the competition runs to form they may have trouble with a Portugese side if it goes to penalties because their blind goalkeeper does have one working arm.
In a strange quirk of the random draw for the Euro qualifiers, Italy have been drawn in a group that contains San Marino, Lichtenstein and The Faroe Islands, with all their games played at home. the referee in each match will be an official of the Italian FA.
Sepp Blatter was today unavailable for comment from the Yacht in Palermo, where he is staying as a guest of Mr Moggi.