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

the best team so far were Ivory Coast.
If Dogbag dod his job in the other teams area instead of getting in the way of his own defenders they would gone close to getting a draw if not winning. Not a bad feat for a team in their first world cup against one of the favs!!

The non-alllowed goal for the argies was balanced off by the offside goal that was given.
Im sick and tired of this stupid offside rule.

As someone said "If your not inteferring with play, what are you doing on the field"

for an .xls co to http://office.microsoft.com

I was hoping, for the sake of my American cousins, that the US soccer team might repair some of the damage caused by those excrutiatingly embarrassing Budweiser ads, but sadly not enough gas in the tanks...

Budweiser have done more to hurt the US image in Europe over the last six days than Dubbya has managed in six years... ;-)

Bos, good luck tonight. Would do me a favour as well, little bit of money on Italy.

Think he'll be on his knees again ;)

:)

Italy won although if Ghana had one clinical striker then it would have been different, England will turn it on in the latter stages when the ROON is back.

Bosley,

Check this out, amigo...

http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/group/index.html

I was actually contemplating creating my own Excel spreadsheet but the above is more than adequate and is updated: 'real-time'.

very pleased with the performance tonight. italy won without having to get out of 3rd gear, very comfortable, buffon only having to make one save, the defenders dealing with most things. one or two scary moments , as mr potts says, a half decent striker and maybe ghana might have scored a goal , but i never felt this was a game italy was going to lose. it's a shame the panel and commentators didn't comment on some of the elbows and lunging tackles from the ghanaians. never mind, 3 points in the bag, look forward to the next game.

cheers pete, hope you put more than a little on :))
markus. cheers . i'll put the link up but i was thinking of something permanent in the first post.
chocolat, nice candles and ta very much:)) not sure i can blow out all four candles, might manage three though. would you like to blow my other candle ? ;)

Boz,
I too am of Italian extraction.
Well I'm wanted by Interpol for blackmailing Berlusconi if thats the same thing.
Alan

Good to see the czech`s bouncing along,england slumber on [god its to hot for football],mexico swagger on,argentina cruise on,and with spain & el nino at the helm,things are looking good,

Argentina all the way.

ARGENTINA! they have no chance, if Messi doesnt make a come back then all they can only be heading out. By El nino are you referring to Torres? I'd prefer Torres and Villa upfront over Raul and then Spain could really do things.
Watch out for Ecuador! No joke.

France have just won the prize for being the worst World Cup side thus far. Zidane, Viera, Thurham all well past their best; Despite his Premiership performances, Henry is totally unable to produce the same form on the International stage and Wiltord was a complete waste of space. Can't see them progressing past the group stages. :-) Happy days

pth

Extremely happy days, Henry needs a good team behind him to play like the Wolrd Class Striker he is. Looking forward to watching Dinio, Adriano and Kaka tonight.

Not overly impressed with Brazil, but as the commentators said, you just never know when they will up a gear when they have to. Quite impressed with Croatia, created some very good opportunities which on another day might have resulted in a goal.

pth

i've just come upstairs to take a piss and i'm pretty certain i moved more than ronaldo did tonight. what a disgrace!! brazil did what good teams do in tournaments, just enough to get the result needed. croatia looked quite useful, almost as good as in the days of suker and boksic. france looked just like a lucky team that isn't lucky anymore. henry, trezequet, cisse, wiltord, saha, zidane and they still haven't scored since '98 in a world cup!!!!
mr potts, ecuador???? perrrleeeese .....

I remember when Rai started the penultimate World Cup as Brazil's captain. But was subbed twice and ultimately dropped as Dunga emerged as their captain.

I think Ronaldo is beginning to appear like that. He has more of a paunch on him than I do! Mgr is not afraid to make tough decisions when the time comes...

Latest odds...

Brazil 9/4
Argentina 6/1
England 6/1
Germany 8/1
Italy 8/1
Holland 12/1
France 14/1
Spain 14/1
Portugal 22/1
Czech Republic 25/1
Mexico 40/1
Sweden 40/1
Croatia 66/1
Ukraine 66/1
Australia 80/1
Switzerland 100/1
Ivory Coast 125/1
South Korea 150/1
Ecuador 200/1
Serbia & Montenegro 200/1
Paraguay 250/1
Poland 250/1
USA 250/1
Tunisia 400/1
Ghana 500/1
Iran 750/1
Japan 750/1
Angola 1000/1
Saudi Arabia 1000/1
Togo 1500/1
Trinidad & Tobago 2000/1
Costa Rica 2500/1

Any country from the top-5 + Spain, IMO?

Amities / Whereas England only managed to look pretty dire in one half , France looked absolutely effing dreadful from begining to end. The worst French side i have EVER seen. How we managed to win all our 8 qualifying games is a enigma in itself . Only interesting episode was Zidanne berating Gallas and defence employing every swear word known . While Croatia looked handy against a Brazil side playing its usual formation of 10 strikers and a g/k. Ronaldo Arbuckle is past it and l trust he wil be given a course 0f laxatives and amphetamines by team Dr.....Czechs look tricky customers while Holland have a balanced cordnated side but like England droop in the heat and after an hour players are begging to be subbed i .Spain NEVER perform as a team and have never done well in World cup to my memory ...Germany are as inspiring as watching paint dry but as hosts will reach the finals against Brazil to whom they will lose . lts Brazil for me but without Fatty . @+ J

Lee, check this out - I think this is what you were after (it does calcs. for you, as well)...

http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/e/predictor.html