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 !.

so
when are we english going to teach our kids that it dont matter how speedy or tricky we are it matters not a jot if we cant kick a football properly?
regards
jkd

Agree with you all.....I also think that playing the USA was like playing one of our own....the americans knew what to expect....and we were not on top....if we could raise our game, perhaps the performance then would take off....Gareth Barry with his excellent technique will be a welcome return....and JCole is a must in my way of thinking.....we must pass the ball with confidence... ; that was sadly lacking for most of the game....

And those blinkin' vavazelas or whatever they are....that's all you can bloody hear...ps .....I think I made a mistake : when I said France met Uruguay in 1998...it was Paraguay....sorry...

rf i dont know why everyone is so annoyed with the horns......every match i watch on the tv i have my missus sitting droning on next to me......i have learned to filter it out...same with the horns :-)

Listening to the radio on the way home this evening, the general gist seemed to be how many Brazil would score against N Korea. The usual commentator drooling over how fantastic the Brazilians are, but the last few World Cups (and their first game in this one) quite clearly demonstrate they are more team orientated and that the 'Samba' days are long gone. Actually, I've been quite impressed by the Koreans (1-0 down at the moment) and Brazil look distinclty ordinary. If Robhino is considered their flair player, well, hope for the rest, even England. by the way, the first goal (IMO) was a complete freak, no way was he aiming to score from the by-line.

Good defense from N. Korea, but very tricky to keep that up for 90 minutes. Full marks to them for a very spirited effort, but Brazil, though generally fairly ordinary, imo, looked the most likely to win. 2-1 is a fair result, but I wonder if N. Korea have a better attacking strategy agianst the other teams in the group.

It's got to be Brazil-Holland in the quarter finals.....unless Portugal pull off a big surprise in the last game of that group....It still looks like Brazil first, Portugal second at the moment but Ivory Coast have pulled off a deserved draw...they will need to repeat that against Brazil or hope that Ronaldo's lot beat them.....I thought that Brazil would have beaten North Korea by at least 3 goals....so well done to them for only being beaten by one goal.....if it does go to a Brazil-Holland the Dutch stand a very good chance of winning....because that brazilian defense is not that good.

In all fairness pt any team playing six at the back will make it difficult for other teams to score but will not beat many teams at this world cup.


What horns Treb ... guess my missus must moan louder than yours :-)

Right at the end the north koreans had another chance...if they had scored....anyway Ivory Coast will not be walkovers.

RF was just thinking that about the Ivory Coast.

If theres going to be a shock side my money would be on them.

Drogba on for a full game will be a handfull for Brazil, make no doubts this Ivory Coast team is as powerfull and strong as any team here.

Portugal didnt look the good team of the past.

you know what they say about the welsh dil....filth the lot of them

best thing about the world cup so far is katy perry in a rubber dress the other night.......she looks liek she would do you some damage

Hey Treb, mighty Spain beaten by Switzerland, keep dreamin, Scotland could beat Switzerland? we will never know. LOL!

Fair point Dil, but I would expect Brazilian sides to be able to break down teams with a little more panache. Very much a workmanlike performance and bar the fluke first goal I wonder what the final result would have been? I haven't seen many games, but it seems like a pretty open tournament at the moment, perhaps an African team might even get to the final? I don't agree that England have to score a shed load of goals to qualify in top place, the other three will probably take points off each other and I expect them to be low scoring affairs. Of course, England will have to win their two games to be sure, even that isn't a given!!

A half time snippet in tonights match, Germany have been practicing with the new ball for the last six months! I have no idea what sort of salary Cappello or any other manager of the respective qualifying countries are on, would seem a no brainer to me that perhaps they would employ the same tactics at least?

for chris

Treb - The guy in the middle Irish or Welsh? :o)

defo not welsh...they dont seem to have any sense of humour

chris re the ball it has been annoying me for the last week......the first game was not the first time they got access to the ball...just an excuse

Chris , I think the Germans have been using in all their league games this season.

Treb ... kiss it :-)

Amazing Switzerland !....Spain will have a devlish job to finish top of the group now, what with the Chileans winning as well....the Spaniards could bump into the Brazilians in the next round....I think that to qualify : Ivory Coast will have to take a point off Brazil.....if the USA beat Slovenia, then England will need to score more goals than them......If we do miss the Germans, I bet that they get to the final somehow....the competition is opening up in front of them !.