Preserved Topic: Discuss World Cup Matches Here (Spoilers Ahead!)

***Do not read this thread if you do not want to find out what's going on in the matches as they are being played (or shortly after they finish)***

That being said...

Oh my God, the Germans have just scored more goals in one game than all the goals in the three previous matches combined. I almost feel sorry for the Saudis. But not quite.

Wait, what's this? The Saudis are on the field praying... for the match to end. They look dazed.

Before this match started I was going to post about how close the games have been so far, all decided by one goal or less. Ireland and Cameroon was interesting, as was Uruguay and Denmark, but my favorite match so far is still Senegal-France .

So, WS, I bet your coworkers are having a field day... you should take advantage of the mood and ask for a raise or something.

OK, everyone, your thoughts on any of the matches so far. Have at it!

[Edit: Oh, this is horrible. The Germans just scored their eighth goal off a free kick. Well, that's it, folks. What a massacre.]



Cell 270

[This message has been edited by Suho1004 (edited 06-01-2002).]

hehe...
8:0

Well, at least someone's happy ... I bet they don't make a slimie with a big enough smile for you, u-neek.

Me is happy: Senegal 1 France 0.

That's the best gif they could give to me!!!

Off course, now I want somebody breaking Chilavert's tooh.....

france without zidane is like:

the yankees without jeter
the wings without Stevie Y
the stones without jagger
peanutbutter without jelly (gross either way)
a day without sunshine
jack without jill
amos without andy

some victory...

So, you are saying that France is nothing without Zidane? While I'm sure there are those who would disagree with you, there are probably many that would agree (especially after the match with Senegal). Playing off of something Ini said in the original thread on this subject, can you really call them a team if they rely on one player? They kind of remind me of Jordan's Bulls, in a way--they do have other talent, but it gets overshadowed sometimes.

Now don't get me wrong, I hate the French just as much as the next guy , but I don't think you can say they don't have talent outside of Zidane. Do they have enough talent to be ranked no. 1 (even with Zidane)? No, I don't think so. Are they going to win again this year? Well, no team has ever won the World Cup after losing their opening match, so history would say no. Granted, there is always a first time for everything, but somehow I don't think this year is going to be it.

Now, moving on... boy do we have a fun day ahead of us: four matches lined up right in a row! My dilemma, of course, is that I am supposed to hand in my MA thesis tomorrow. Actually, it's not that much of a dilemma since most of the stuff I have left to do is technical (fixing stuff one of my seniors pointed out; doing up the bibliography, etc.), and I can fit a little TV window over to the right...

[This message has been edited by Suho1004 (edited 06-02-2002).]

I don't follow sports for political reasons but there's tons
of politics when it comes to the olympics and world cup events..

If I follow a team it's usually because I enjoy
watching certain key players...i stopped watching
the Montreal Canadiens when Guy Lafleur retired...was
he the only player on the team..nope, just felt dull
after he retired.

Does Zidane make the French team? To me it doesn't matter,
i enjoy watching star players like Zidane, or Jordan, or Yzerman, or
Rivera, or Jeter, etc....

the only time i can really get into a team with or without any
stars is the olympics..like when canada whooped the ass
of both the men and women U.S. teams.

Being a long time football fan in the sense of fan=fanatic I'd like to chime in a few notes.

Any team with Zidane is a better team but he doesn't make the French. In the final game of the 98
World cup he was the deciding factor but it was a team that got them there and a team that won it.
This upset by Senegal was a wonderful statement to the French team. They won't walk through this tourney and if they think there's any easy games think again.
France could have won easily. I saw Henry hit the crossbar and Trezegue hit the post. Either shot Could have turned the game around. For the most part France controlled the midfield but could never break down the defense of Senagal. Far too many long balls to the forwards and they were not playing a slow team so it was a waste. Don't think France was a bad team, rather Senegal forced a good team to play poorly.
Conclusion. France has to stop the #1 swagger and play some basics. When they do you'll see why they are rated #1 in the world. They don't need Zidane to clear the first round but they do need to play with some urgency. Expect a different team in their next game.

Cheers!
Dave..

Well, I agree that any team with Zidane will be a better team, but a lot of things would have needed to happen for France to have won "easily." If, for example, we're going to count shots that hit the posts/crossbar, we would have had a 2-2 draw (Fadiga hit the crossbar in the 65th minute). It could have gone either way--there are so many different factors. So I'd have to say, no, I don't think France could have easily won that game the way they played. I do agree that Senegal deserves credit for throwing France off their game, and I look forward to France's next match on Thursday... we'll see if they come out with guns blazing. (Speaking of guns, I read tht Zidane might not play in the second match either; I think it would be more of a test for the team if they had to play without him again.)

While we're at it, how 'bout them Nigerians? Argentina has had the pressure on, but Nigeria hasn't broken down yet. I heard that the Nigerian squad made a deal with the Argentinian squad--the Argentinians are helping the Nigerians get millions of dollars out of Nigeria and using their share to kick start the Argentinian economy. It's a win-win situation!

[Edit: Well, Argentina finally got one in, and it looks like things are going their way now.]

[This message has been edited by Suho1004 (edited 06-02-2002).]

I have to say... I feel tremendously sorry for the Saudis for their rousting the other day...


Well, not really... let um burn... Congrats to the Germans!! 8-0 = OUCHERS



[This message has been edited by Bishop (edited 06-05-2002).]

Yeah, maybe I'm just a bad person, but I was having too much fun watching all those goals go in! My wife kept looking away because she said she couldn't watch it anymore. I thought it was kind of funny, actually.

How about yesterday's matches, though? With apologies to aroma, England was lucky to come out of that game with a draw. England had the advantage in the first half, but Sweden played much better in the second. Spain was also impressive. I think Slovenia played well, but Spain did what they had to do to win their opener. I didn't end up watching the other match (Paraguay-South Africa).

Looking forward to tomorrow's Korea-Poland match, which will give the US a chance to size up two of their opponents. I know quite a bit about the Korean side (obviously), but I know little about Poland, so I'm interested in seeing how they do against Korea. Also, an opening loss for Korea would do a lot to demoralize the team (realistically, Korea needs at least a win-draw combination against the US and Poland, assuming a loss to Portugal, and most people here are looking to come out of group play with two wins and a loss), and might make things a little easier on the US. Then again, it might just motivate them to chase that elusive win (they don't have a finals win yet). So many variables, so little time...

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Iuhu!!
Yabba yappa!!!!!

Spain Won yesterday!! after 52 years with no-winning the first match in a world cup!!!!!!!!!!

God, this is great!!!

Edit: Oh! Paraguay South Africa: 2-2 that makes the things excellent for spain!!

[This message has been edited by Wakkos (edited 06-03-2002).]

So who's updating this thing??!!?? Suho!!! I wanna know who's winning, Japan or Belgium...last I knew, it was 1-1.

Well, the clock is winding down, and it looks like Poland is going to lose this one... sorry Ducati.

After looking quite confused for the first twenty minutes, the Koreans came out strong and pretty much dominated the game.

Yep, it's official, Korea has won its first World Cup match in 15 tries, and things are obviously looking up. What this means for the U.S.... well, it ain't gonna be an easy match, that's all I have to say. And I think I'll scrap that idea of going to City Hall. They showed everyone gathered there at half time, and it was a sea of people jumping around like crazy. If the U.S. wins their match with Korea, I'm not sure if I want to be out of doors.

On the positive side, Poland was very unimpressive (again, sorry Ducati), which bodes well for the U.S. Poland match... But first up is Portugal tomorrow. It sure would be nice if we could pull something out of our hats.

[Edit: As for Japan-Belgium, they drew 2-2.]

[This message has been edited by Suho1004 (edited 06-04-2002).]

WTF!!!!!!!!!!! POland just got their ass whopped by Korea!!!!!!!

Man they sucked!!!!!!!!!!!!! and I even admit that and I am from Poland!

Korea was all over them!! Poland simply played like little kids! I could play better than them dammit!!!!!!!!!!!!!

sorry had to vent...

MAX

Heh, I understand. I just hope the U.S. doesn't suffer the same fate...

Man that was terrible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

POland looked like shit on the field! They were so damn slow and confused what was going on! All they did was kick the damn ball out!!!!!!!!!

MAX

Someone get Ducati his meds, stat!

Sounds like they were practicing with the Saudis...

Hope they play like that against America....

Yeeehaaawww! Japan drawed with Belgium 2-2!!! Well, things are heating up....

Go US!

Point taken that Poland played extremely poorly...
however... SoKo did play a very tidy game...
With SoKo playing that well... and POR being another team to be reckoned with...
US certainly won't be walking thru the group to advance..
definately have their work cut out for them.

USA! USA! USA! hehehehehehehehehehehe! (always go for the underdog and I am an American DAMMIT!)



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Wolfen's Sig Site

Michael: it's definitely not going to be a cakewalk. We also have to remember that Korea have the home field advantage, and that means a lot here.

The U.S. definitely could have gotten a worse group, but by no means is it going to be easy. We're really going to have to work for it, and Portugal is our first test. I think we'll get an idea of how things are going to play out.

In all honesty, I was hoping that Korea and Poland would draw...

[Edit: An interesting note: the current coach of the Korean team, Hiddink, was the coach of the Dutch team when they beat Korea 5-0 in the last World Cup... he's doing a good job so far.]

[This message has been edited by Suho1004 (edited 06-04-2002).]

I thought Poland would win....

You know what? I am happy they didn't... Korea deserved to win. They played excellent game. They danced around Poland! And just to think that most of the Polish players from the team are playing for some of the best sorrer legues in Europe... maybe it was a communication iassue... it looked like they didn't understand each other...

If it wasn't for Polish goalie (Dudek) it would be 10:0 But what can you do when your defence sucks???? Korean's defence was tight and strong. Poland tried pass the ball waaaayyy to many time to Olesibabi up front...he couldnt' even do anything!!!!!

MAX

[This message has been edited by Ducati (edited 06-05-2002).]

So here we are, fifteen minutes before the U.S. - Portugal match. Last I heard we were going to have to do without Reyna and Mathis, which doesn't bode well at all. I would be ecstatic with a draw at this point; that would set us up well. But we can always hope for a win, too. That would certainly be nice.

Hiddink (the Korean coach) has been quoted saying that the match against the US is going to be a struggle, and I would have to agree. Most Koreans are pretty confident that the Korean side will be able to beat the US, but that may also just be euphoria from their first ever win. At any rate, we have a much more formidable opponent at hand.

Go team!


Cell 270

[This message has been edited by Suho1004 (edited 06-05-2002).]

*crosses fingers, spits in hat* Go USA!

OMG We just scored! It was a corner kick that the keeper saved, but we got the rebound in! Woohoo!

*loses all similarity of logic thinking ability* YEEEEHHHAAAAWWWWW!!!! GO GO GO!!!!! *begins USA chant admist a throng of German colleagues...*

*Readin on Matchcast... www.worldcup.com* USA USA USA!



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Wolfen's Sig Site

2-0! YAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!! USA USA USA!



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Wolfen's Sig Site

*jumps around his tiny house like a friggin' maniac*

WOOOOO! Goal number two, baby!

I think I'm going to faint...

By the way, I think Wolfen meant Worldcup.com.

HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!!

US is all over Partugal!!!!!!!!!

aaaaahahahahah dat right!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MAX

*German collegueas look at me strangely, and try to avoid me, but I don't care!* HOLY **** Batman!!!!! 2 goals....!!!!!! And against Portugal!!!! *does Asylum dance*

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 3 nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yeah baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MAX

3-0!!!!!! AAAAAAAHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YEAH! USA USA USA!



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Wolfen's Sig Site

OK, somebody pinch me, please. This can't be happening. We are friggin's tearing them apart! 3-0 baby!

3 GOALS!!!!!

Amazing!!!!!!!!!

What the!?!?! 3-1? ouch.



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Wolfen's Sig Site

And that in the first half...unbelievable! Go boys, go!!!! 3-0!!!!

Dang it!!! Portuagal just scored...3-1. Hold on, USA!

damn.. what a game!!!!!!!!!

US is looking REALLLLLLYYY GOOOOOODDDD....



MAX

USA can pull this off. They are lookin really good from what I am reading. *angry that I do not have CABLE! GGGRRRRRRRRRR!*



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Wolfen's Sig Site

Wolfen, ABC also does Wcup games.... are they on cable???? I am watchin on ESPN2

Yeah you know what? I really wouldn't be surprised if the won the CUP!!! They are looking really good on the field..

Man, they are going rip Poland to shreads!!!



MAX

No offense Ducati, but I sure hope so.

Ducati: Yeah, but we get to see the game later in the day. I like my games live. America is not that big on world cup, but it does make the headlines. 'American Football' is realo popular.



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Wolfen's Sig Site

yup..

please continue in other thread... this one is too big ..

can someone close this one?

MAX

Ok guys, c'mon let's go.



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