World Cup poll

[TIM (2)]

Would not have a clue!!!

As long as it is not England which like most other attempts, it more than likely won't be

 

Obviously not a man who watches 20/20 Cricket then?

 

I don't know what 20/20 Cricket has got to do with the soccer world cup but anyway, you are dead right, I don't watch 20/20 cricket !!

 

You implied that England don't win much of anything. Which is largely true. But National Pride is pretty high after The Ashes, and then slaughtering Australia in the 20/20 World Final...

[Glen]

Would not have a clue!!!

As long as it is not England which like most other attempts, it more than likely won't be

 

Obviously not a man who watches 20/20 Cricket then?

 

I don't know what 20/20 Cricket has got to do with the soccer world cup but anyway, you are dead right, I don't watch 20/20 cricket !!

 

You implied that England don't win much of anything. Which is largely true. But National Pride is pretty high after The Ashes, and then slaughtering Australia in the 20/20 World Final...

 

Ha, yeah funny how the 20/20 was brushed over, after England Annihilated the Aussies in fine fashion. The old 'that aint proper cricket' gets wheeled out! lol!! Priceless.

 

Also to claim that England are a bunch of divers couldnt really be further from the truth....there are a lot of divers in football....namely the Spanish, The Italians, The Germans and The Argentinians....but one thing we cant be accused of is diving.

 

Sometimes it actually irritates the hell out of me just how honest the English football team is. Most of our strikers will stay on their feet and try to score in the box rather than go down easy and claim a penalty and to be honest it doesnt do us any favours!

 

As Ive said in other threads IF (and its a big IF) we play well and top our group, our route to the semis should be OK....might just need to beat France in the quarters....then we will likely get Brazil in the semis and its all to play for. So those Aussies yearning for an early English exit will be sorely disappointed! lol

 

& my bet for the golden boot is Mr Wayne Rooney....it's his time my friends, just watch him go!

[Dead Planet]

Hey... What can I say..?

 

I'm an American... so I voted "Who Gives A Shit".

 

I'll still make a prediction ~ Argentina

 

 

I voted the same way.....but I'll cheer for Germany.....

[Dave]

Would not have a clue!!!

As long as it is not England which like most other attempts, it more than likely won't be

 

Obviously not a man who watches 20/20 Cricket then?

 

I don't know what 20/20 Cricket has got to do with the soccer world cup but anyway, you are dead right, I don't watch 20/20 cricket !!

 

You implied that England don't win much of anything. Which is largely true. But National Pride is pretty high after The Ashes, and then slaughtering Australia in the 20/20 World Final...

 

No Tim, I was just talking about winning the soccer world cup {Honestly don't know when you won it last}.

The Ashes, yep, I take my hat off to you guys on that one as you deserved that.

20/20......well.....yes you did win it but I'm being honest when I say I could not give a fat rats arse whatsoever about that tournament because I hate that format of the game with a passion because it will ruin Test Cricket in the long run.

Beat Australia in Test Cricket, then you can give it to me with both barrels and it will cut like a knife and I'll be until we play you again.

Anyone wanting to bang on about 20/20, you are simply flogging a dead horse!!!

I could not care less if we were beaten by England, Bangladesh or even Mongolia.

[LV KIX]

Hey... What can I say..?

 

I'm an American... so I voted "Who Gives A Shit".

 

 

 

How dare you !!!!!!

I hope the USA are never going to try and bid to host the World Cup then

 

 

I too hope the USA are never going to try and bid to host the World Cup.

 

 

And as far as the first couple matches:

 

The host country ties Mexico 1 to 1... WOW that must of been a great 90 mins or so. Only to be topped by the exciting 0-0 final in the second game.

 

 

I do have a serious question. Can a team advance in the World Cup by never winning a game (ties)? Is it possible to win the whole deal by just having the most ties?

 

Just doesn't seem like this format can really decide who is the best team.

[Glen]

Hey... What can I say..?

 

I'm an American... so I voted "Who Gives A Shit".

 

 

 

How dare you !!!!!!

I hope the USA are never going to try and bid to host the World Cup then

 

 

I too hope the USA are never going to try and bid to host the World Cup.

 

 

And as far as the first couple matches:

 

The host country ties Mexico 1 to 1... WOW that must of been a great 90 mins or so. Only to be topped by the exciting 0-0 final in the second game.

 

 

I do have a serious question. Can a team advance in the World Cup by never winning a game (ties)? Is it possible to win the whole deal by just having the most ties?

 

Just doesn't seem like this format can really decide who is the best team.

 

win by the most ties?? nice concept, but no. You pretty much need to win to get out of your group and then its knockout for the last 4 games....last 16, 8, semis, final.

 

France were boring as horse shit, but then they are shite! Wait for the Argies, Spain, Brazil and of course England if you want to see some real footie ;-)

[JamesEagle]

 

I too hope the USA are never going to try and bid to host the World Cup.

 

 

And as far as the first couple matches:

 

The host country ties Mexico 1 to 1... WOW that must of been a great 90 mins or so. Only to be topped by the exciting 0-0 final in the second game.

 

 

I do have a serious question. Can a team advance in the World Cup by never winning a game (ties)? Is it possible to win the whole deal by just having the most ties?

 

Just doesn't seem like this format can really decide who is the best team.

 

win by the most ties?? nice concept, but no. You pretty much need to win to get out of your group and then its knockout for the last 4 games....last 16, 8, semis, final.

 

France were boring as horse shit, but then they are shite! Wait for the Argies, Spain, Brazil and of course England if you want to see some real footie ;-)

 

In theory, you could win the World Cup without winning a game. A team could, although unlikely, draw all first round games and qualify for the next round. They could then draw every knockout game and win on penalties. However, it will never happen, so it's irrelevant imo. The format is just about the best to decide who is the best team, the only thing that would improve it is to get rid of penalties. I'm not sure what should replace them, but I still find it ridiculous that in 1994 the best team in the world was decided on penalties. It really is no way to decide whether one team is better than another.

[Chris]

My vote went to Brazil. And on a side note didn't the USA host in '94?

[Dark Star]

I wonder.. Why isn't USA an option to vote???? Didn't they hold England to a draw today?? Nice screw up by England's goalie too..

 

I don't really care, but I gotta go with My Home team...

 

USA!!!!!

[Blue Charvel]

I wonder.. Why isn't USA an option to vote???? Didn't they hold England to a draw today?? Nice screw up by England's goalie too..

 

I don't really care, but I gotta go with My Home team...

 

USA!!!!!

Yeah, what he said!

[Swazi]

I wonder.. Why isn't USA an option to vote???? Didn't they hold England to a draw today?? Nice screw up by England's goalie too..

 

I don't really care, but I gotta go with My Home team...

 

USA!!!!!

Yeah, what he said!

 

Dreamers ......... !

[Geoff]

Haha. I didn't even notice the USA not being in the options. How did that happen, if even the Aussies scored a mention?

 

Dave, mate, I share your frustrations. As I said, I make an effort for any kind of big international event that the Aussies are a part of, but man, soccer just frustrates the hell out of me!

 

Glen, if you're right and England are not divers, you'd be a clown not to accept that with pride, rather than be disappointed because of the penalties they might not milk. I'd rather a group of men represent my homeland rather than a bunch of c*nt skirt wearing divers, cheating their way to victory. I honestly would. I am quite proud that, comparitively, the Aussies do not take part in this diving bullshit. If the result is 4-0 losses and a pool-round exit, then so be it.

 

My mate who I went away with over the weekend is the most calm, easy going and relaxed dude I have honestly ever known. Probably 5 mins in front of the TV catching the tail end of Algeria vs Slovenia and he was as furious as I've ever seen him. As a fan of proper contact sports, it is really quite hard to watch these f*cking morons tumble around like pieces of shit. I honestly wish a cruel death to ANY player who takes part in an event such as an opponent's boot getting close to said player's ankle, only to see the said player fall to the ground grasping at his face. And then this one c*nt had the hide to be escorted from the field with an ice pack on his head, after being kicked around the shin. I truly wish him the worst death imaginable.

 

Anyway, I'm ranting. The acting (which makes me genuinely find that wrestling is the closest comparison to soccer if you'd be looking for a sport to compare it to) and the fact that you can sit there for 90+ mins only to see a 0-0 scoreline, or 1-0 (unless the Aussies are playing) really is a pretty big waste of time.

 

Rant ended. I'm still going to try to see what I can, but I caught 2min highlights of the Japan vs Cameroon and Italy vs Paraguay matches this morning, and in all honesty there is no way you need to see more than those 2mins per game.

[JamesEagle]

Haha. I didn't even notice the USA not being in the options. How did that happen, if even the Aussies scored a mention?

 

Dave, mate, I share your frustrations. As I said, I make an effort for any kind of big international event that the Aussies are a part of, but man, soccer just frustrates the hell out of me!

 

Glen, if you're right and England are not divers, you'd be a clown not to accept that with pride, rather than be disappointed because of the penalties they might not milk. I'd rather a group of men represent my homeland rather than a bunch of c*nt skirt wearing divers, cheating their way to victory. I honestly would. I am quite proud that, comparitively, the Aussies do not take part in this diving bullshit. If the result is 4-0 losses and a pool-round exit, then so be it.

 

My mate who I went away with over the weekend is the most calm, easy going and relaxed dude I have honestly ever known. Probably 5 mins in front of the TV catching the tail end of Algeria vs Slovenia and he was as furious as I've ever seen him. As a fan of proper contact sports, it is really quite hard to watch these f*cking morons tumble around like pieces of shit. I honestly wish a cruel death to ANY player who takes part in an event such as an opponent's boot getting close to said player's ankle, only to see the said player fall to the ground grasping at his face. And then this one c*nt had the hide to be escorted from the field with an ice pack on his head, after being kicked around the shin. I truly wish him the worst death imaginable.

 

Anyway, I'm ranting. The acting (which makes me genuinely find that wrestling is the closest comparison to soccer if you'd be looking for a sport to compare it to) and the fact that you can sit there for 90+ mins only to see a 0-0 scoreline, or 1-0 (unless the Aussies are playing) really is a pretty big waste of time.

 

Rant ended. I'm still going to try to see what I can, but I caught 2min highlights of the Japan vs Cameroon and Italy vs Paraguay matches this morning, and in all honesty there is no way you need to see more than those 2mins per game.

 

I can honestly say without exaggeration that Japan v Cameroon was one of the worst games of football I have ever seen. The second half of the Italy v Paraguay game was really good, Paraguay impressed me and had more energy than any other team I've seen so far.

 

England players dive occasionally, although far less often than most other sides. Italy were terrible on that score, the number I've times one of their players was rolling around on the floor, only to get up as soon as the free kick was awarded. Lots of teams do it and it's what winds me up the most; the acting when you know the player is fine and as soon as he gets the decision he is up and about like nothing happened.

[TIM (2)]

I wonder.. Why isn't USA an option to vote???? Didn't they hold England to a draw today?? Nice screw up by England's goalie too..

 

 

Well given that you're moaning about one British spill (the one leaking oil all over your coastline), we thought we'd give you a spill you can celebrate!

[Glen]

Haha. I didn't even notice the USA not being in the options. How did that happen, if even the Aussies scored a mention?

 

Dave, mate, I share your frustrations. As I said, I make an effort for any kind of big international event that the Aussies are a part of, but man, soccer just frustrates the hell out of me!

 

Glen, if you're right and England are not divers, you'd be a clown not to accept that with pride, rather than be disappointed because of the penalties they might not milk. I'd rather a group of men represent my homeland rather than a bunch of c*nt skirt wearing divers, cheating their way to victory. I honestly would. I am quite proud that, comparitively, the Aussies do not take part in this diving bullshit. If the result is 4-0 losses and a pool-round exit, then so be it.

 

My mate who I went away with over the weekend is the most calm, easy going and relaxed dude I have honestly ever known. Probably 5 mins in front of the TV catching the tail end of Algeria vs Slovenia and he was as furious as I've ever seen him. As a fan of proper contact sports, it is really quite hard to watch these f*cking morons tumble around like pieces of shit. I honestly wish a cruel death to ANY player who takes part in an event such as an opponent's boot getting close to said player's ankle, only to see the said player fall to the ground grasping at his face. And then this one c*nt had the hide to be escorted from the field with an ice pack on his head, after being kicked around the shin. I truly wish him the worst death imaginable.

 

Anyway, I'm ranting. The acting (which makes me genuinely find that wrestling is the closest comparison to soccer if you'd be looking for a sport to compare it to) and the fact that you can sit there for 90+ mins only to see a 0-0 scoreline, or 1-0 (unless the Aussies are playing) really is a pretty big waste of time.

 

Rant ended. I'm still going to try to see what I can, but I caught 2min highlights of the Japan vs Cameroon and Italy vs Paraguay matches this morning, and in all honesty there is no way you need to see more than those 2mins per game.

 

 

and herein lies the problem.

 

1. The concept of the 'world cup' is flawed in that to be truly a 'world cup' they have to let in a load of dross (yes like Australia) whereas some much better footballing nations (like Sweden, Croatia, Ukraine, Turkey etc)miss out because of the competitiveness of their group stages.

 

2. This means you have a bunch of fairly meaningless / boring group stage games at the finals of the world cup cos everyone can pretty much predict easily who is going to ultimately make the last 8.

 

3. All of the initial games are as tight as a rats arse cos no-one wants to lose.....hence the boring Italy v Paraguay games for example.

 

If I were you and I wanted to see some decent footie, I would start watching at the quarter final stages where there are some great potential match ups like Holland v Brazil and Germany v Argentina.

 

I cant say you wont see more rolling about, but at least you will see some decent exciting footie.

 

Over and out

[Geoff]

Yeah, I'll keep watching, but I am looking forward to the business end. I can't believe that Sweden, Croatia, Ukraine and Turkey didn't make it in. Wow. As you said, must be flawed if even New Zealand (who are actually doing far better than Australia at the moment) can make it and those guys can't.

 

I just fear these later games might not be as time-friendly as the current 9:30pm game we at least get each night. I'm looking forward to Saturday night, though. 7:30pm Aussies play England in Rugby Union, 9:30pm Holland play in the World Cup and then midnight the Aussies give it another crack in the World Cup. Going to be hard as I hate both sports, but because I have someone solid to barrack for in each game, plus a heap of beers, it could be pretty cool.

[TIM (2)]

Yeah, I'll keep watching, but I am looking forward to the business end. I can't believe that Sweden, Croatia, Ukraine and Turkey didn't make it in. Wow. As you said, must be flawed if even New Zealand (who are actually doing far better than Australia at the moment) can make it and those guys can't.

 

 

Yep this is definitely true. Croatia and Ukraine were both in England's qualifying group and we beat Croatia 4-1 and 5-1 in the two games, so they can hardly claim they deserve a place. Ukraine were unlucky going out in the play-off game, but for teams like North Korea/Algeria/New Zealand/Slovenia etc to all make the finals, at the expense of teams like Ukraine/Rep.of Ireland is an embarrassment to football IMO. FIFA do it for one reason only: to make the Finals a Globally-watched game. They're not interested in having the best teams there at all...

[Rockposer]

Isn't it dependent on who Simon Cowell likes?

[Swazi]

Yeah, I'll keep watching, but I am looking forward to the business end. I can't believe that Sweden, Croatia, Ukraine and Turkey didn't make it in. Wow. As you said, must be flawed if even New Zealand (who are actually doing far better than Australia at the moment) can make it and those guys can't.

 

 

Yep this is definitely true. Croatia and Ukraine were both in England's qualifying group and we beat Croatia 4-1 and 5-1 in the two games, so they can hardly claim they deserve a place. Ukraine were unlucky going out in the play-off game, but for teams like North Korea/Algeria/New Zealand/Slovenia etc to all make the finals, at the expense of teams like Ukraine/Rep.of Ireland is an embarrassment to football IMO. FIFA do it for one reason only: to make the Finals a Globally-watched game. They're not interested in having the best teams there at all...

 

Ireland should definitely have made it, instead of France. Bloody cheaters (Henry)!

 

And, btw..., the absolutely worst "diver" is Ronaldo. What a dick !!

[Glen]

Yeah, I'll keep watching, but I am looking forward to the business end. I can't believe that Sweden, Croatia, Ukraine and Turkey didn't make it in. Wow. As you said, must be flawed if even New Zealand (who are actually doing far better than Australia at the moment) can make it and those guys can't.

 

 

Yep this is definitely true. Croatia and Ukraine were both in England's qualifying group and we beat Croatia 4-1 and 5-1 in the two games, so they can hardly claim they deserve a place. Ukraine were unlucky going out in the play-off game, but for teams like North Korea/Algeria/New Zealand/Slovenia etc to all make the finals, at the expense of teams like Ukraine/Rep.of Ireland is an embarrassment to football IMO. FIFA do it for one reason only: to make the Finals a Globally-watched game. They're not interested in having the best teams there at all...

 

Ireland should definitely have made it, instead of France. Bloody cheaters (Henry)!

 

And, btw..., the absolutely worst "diver" is Ronaldo. What a dick !!

 

backed and backed.

 

although Kaka pushes him close.

[Geoff]

And, btw..., the absolutely worst "diver" is Ronaldo. What a dick !!

BACKED! I had no idea who the guy was till I saw him play the other night and I ferociously wanted to see him in a casket. What a prancing, skirt wearing piece of shit that guy was. Hope he takes a private jet home and the pilots and staff eject while he perishes into the mountains. Worthless c*nt.

[Glen]

And, btw..., the absolutely worst "diver" is Ronaldo. What a dick !!

BACKED! I had no idea who the guy was till I saw him play the other night and I ferociously wanted to see him in a casket. What a prancing, skirt wearing piece of shit that guy was. Hope he takes a private jet home and the pilots and staff eject while he perishes into the mountains. Worthless c*nt.

 

lol, he speaks highly of you too ;-)

[JamesEagle]

Glad to see some vitriol aimed at Ronaldo, I can't stand him either. People talk about players being "prima donnas", there's the single player who sums that up.

 

I should have saved my vote for this poll. Germany are going to win it, aren't they?

[Geoff]

What about that raging poofter in the Serbian team who needed to get stretchered off the field in the dying seconds of extra time? I think if I had the opportunity to use a form of travel that got me there to that field in seconds - even if it cost astronomical amounts of money - which enabled me to murder him in the most vicious manner I could ever imagine, I would have had to have done it.

 

I said it elsewhere before, but there is a legitimate opportunity to at least kind of salvage something about soccer. The refs have the penalities the wrong way round - plain and simple. To try and weed out these penalty-milking motherf*ckers from the game, why can the rule not be reversed so that the divers are penalised, not the (98% of the time, innocent) defenders? It pains me to think that kids who are starting to play soccer are watching this kind of stuff and thinking that that's what you need to do to win a game of soccer.

[Dead Planet]

Everytime I start watching one of these games I have to switch off when some moron takes a dive....pathetic...