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

ttt

only a few hours to kick-off ........ i'm soooooo excited i think i might make a mess in me pants !!!

Would you believe it? I will miss Ing-ur-lands opener tomorrow!!!
Life just aint fair.

Got lotsa beers riding on Costa Rica and Ecuador winning tonight. Please....!

greystone...i fancy costa rica to win 2-1...that german team is unterhose

windsorgolf - I'll be happy to settle for that but it would be great if Paolo Wanchope could score - a hat-trick preferably - :-)

Greystone, Paolo scored 2/3 - not bad - ex-Rams centreforward - seen him play umpteen matches - he can frustrate you one minute - and then tantalise you the next - a true enigma!!

a very tasty start to the tournament. the germans looked fairly strong although it was against weak opposition. anyone who has klose as tournament top scorer must be very happy.
ecuador and poland both looked useless but i think the polish manager picked the wrong team for the game. the poles looked a better outfit with the team that finished the match and i expect a better performance from them in the next game.

Yep, they might manage a draw.

With a favourable ref, of course. :-)))

We have a big Ecuadorian population here and they were partying into the early hours... Its only the second game they ever won in world cup finals.

Predictions for today please.
I'll go 3-1 to Ing-ur-land.
Goals from Owen, Crouch and Terry.
Next!

Four - nil England.... ;-)

Owen, Owen, Lampard and Owen.

i'll have the draw. good luck .

Stupid ref not allowing the players to grab a quick squirt of water.

Cracking game between Argentina and Ivory Coast (2-1) ... Glad we're not in that group. ;-)

excellent. Top of group and we did'nt even score a goal.
IN_GHERRR LAND
makes you proud
LOL

i find it incredible that the bbc panel were so critical of england's performance yesterday. i thought it was a very good performance for a first game, they got the 3 points and didn't really look threatened. no team in this tournament will dominate for the full 90. there will be times when teams are pushed back, forced to defend and i thought england defended well. did robinson have to make a save? to blame the second half on eriksson's time in italy is ludicrous. every team is hoping to stay in the tournament to the end which means it isn't wise to try to play 90 minutes at full pelt if you dont have to. if italy get a scabby goal and win 1-0 on monday i will be more than happy.

Bos

Accepting first game nerves, I still thought the England performance was far from good. Ball distribution was awful particularly by Neville and had we been up against a more accomplished side I think we would have struggled to draw nevermind a win. I thought the studio panel made some pretty good points re the replacement of Owen, why play a midfielder in a striking role? (despite J Cole having a good game) when he took Theo Walcott. I wouldn't be surprised if the omission of Defoe may come back to haunt us, particularly if he won't give Walcott a run and Owen remains listless. We reverted to playing Div 2 footy in the second half, lumping a long ball up to Crouch in the hope he could hold it up. Problem was he didn't have anyone to lay it off to and that sort of tactic will be food and drink to the better sides. However, that's the first game out of the way and TNT have done us a massive favour by drawing with the Swedes, hopefully we can stroll into the knock out stages and play the sort of football they are capable of playing.

Having seen all that's on offer so far, I can't say I've seen any team (England excepted) that looks as good going back as going forward.

Germany, Holland and Argentina certainly look great going for goal but look a bit vulnerable at the back.

Guys, I am sure the 3 Lions are just "jockeying for position" atm... Let us qualify first, avoid the Germans (not that they are any good but [1] they are at home and [2] they always plan their way towards the final stages) and take it from there...