The "OMG, Football World Championship in Germany!!!!" - thread

[Sewer Bull]

Spain are definitely in shape. Might reach the semi-finals or even higher with such a form. But I agree, that red card was highly controversial.

Tunisia - Saudi Arabia. Boring match, nice goals, exciting ending. And that's all I can say about this "Arabic derby". None of those teams is going to play in the second round unless Ukraine screws really badlly in the next two matches.

But yeah, here we go... the most important match of the whole year... at least for me... is about to start...

POLSKA!!!!!

...



Beware, Herr Barkworm.

[Dinny]

About 20 minutes in and the match is really open. I can see a good few goals here. 3-2 would be a plausible scoreline.

[Sewer Bull]

Nil-nil.

So far so good.

[Gemma]

Germany win 1 - 0. A blinding goal in the 91'.

Hats off to Borac though, he did make some wonderful saves during the match.

[Anarky]

Oh joy, now we'll hear about the "phenomenal victory against Poland" forever.

See, this is why I don't like German media. Every little thing that makes them even a little better than the rest of the world is mentionned a thousand times, heroes are named, people keep on cheering for ages and ages. But if they're actually losing at something, they yell "Conspiracy!" and "Foul play!" all the time. It's disgusting.

[Sewer Bull]

It's very hard for me to comment on this match, as I'm emotionally attached to one of the participants. My heart's bleeding now and my eyes are filled with tears... We're virtually outta this tournament. But OK, enough of being a drama queen.

I'm not sure if I'm able to assess this encounter right. I was awestruck by my compatriots' performance. After all that running the gauntlet for the past few days (the press+the enraged supporters+even the government itself) and sh*tload of criticism, they played much, much better than against Ecuador on Friday. Even though there were only ten of them for the last fifteen minutes. Boruc was formidable, that was probably one of his best games ever. And he had lots of luck this time. The defense line (Bosacki, Bak, Zewlakow) played very reasonably and showed lots of committment, just like the rest of our team, like Smolarek, Krzynowek or Jelen (my personal favourite). Ballack and some other German players were hardly ever visible thanks to the defense struggling really hard. Too bad we rarely menaced the German goal yet we definitely had a few occasions to score.

The sad truth is - the Germans were technically better, more endure and stronger. In fact they wholly deserved that victory, as they were much better in general and worked out more occasions to score a goal. But the boys really managed to be a pain in the German ass till the very end, they fought well and bravely.

Congrats to the all German Drome members. It comforts my soul a bit that it was Neuville who scored the winning goal and not Klose or Podolski. I wonder what "BILD" is going to write about this showdown.

[Barkworm]

What I don't get is that a team which badly needs to win barely attacks at all.
All I can say is that I'm dealing with some personal sh*t right now and Germany winning is like medicine for me. Yesterday evening was so awesome, the streets were filled with people. That's something you simply don't see here that often.

[Kid Icarus]

Congrats to Germany... watched their win happen at work.

LOL

Gotta live that 50 inch plasma screen going to waste in a college dorm's dining hall. >_>.

[Dinny]

Originally Posted by Barkworm

What I don't get is that a team which badly needs to win barely attacks at all.

I think Poland may have been somewhat satisfied with a draw. You have to understand how tough this match was for Poland. If they attacked and went for the win, they'd be defensively frail. It was a better tactic for them to play like Switzerland did against France, that is to defend well, and hope that they can get a goal.
I felt really sorry for the Polish fans in the stadium. For 91 minutes their team showed great organisation and determination. But football's a cruel game at the best of times. I believe it is still mathematically possible for Poland to go through, depending on Ecuador's result.
England play Trinidad & Tobago today. A win will put them through, but it's not as simple as that.The media has been putting pressure on the team after the performance against Paraguay. Anything under 3-0 or 4-0 will be seen as a failure. Especially after Spain's terrific performance.

[Sewer Bull]

Originally Posted by Dinny

I think Poland may have been somewhat satisfied with a draw. You have to understand how tough this match was for Poland. If they attacked and went for the win, they'd be defensively frail. It was a better tactic for them to play like Switzerland did against France, that is to defend well, and hope that they can get a goal.

You explained that well, Sir.

And yeah - Ecuador drowned both Costa Rica and Poland and is in the next round along with that other team. Well, they truly deserved that. The match wasn't spectacular - Costa Rica were just miserable.

I hope Paraguay pwns Sweden tonight.

[Barkworm]

F*ck, if Germany doesn't win against Ecuador my tickets are worth sh*t.
EDIT: The England match was similar to Germany's. Gerrard's goal was awesome!

[Dinny]

Originally Posted by Barkworm

Gerrard's goal was awesome!

Too right! It was amazing! I think that England playing Gerrard as a holding player is a mistake. He needs to be free to get into areas like that and shoot because he's so dangerous from there. England need a defensive midfielder behind Gerrard and Lampard.

[Sewer Bull]

Yeah - England-T&T was so similar to Germany-Poland. Gerrard's goal was wonderful, tho'. And Beckham's still a key player.

[Dinny]

Originally Posted by Sewer Bull

And Beckham's still a key player.

Agreed. His crosses are irreplaceable. I quite liked him at Right Back, I feel that Gary Neville no longer fits well in the England side. Against Paraguay he was all over the place, and not in a good way.

[Sewer Bull]

Damn. Another GER-POL and ENG-TRI match. Damn Swedes. I really hoped they were not going to made it through the first stage. But with Paraguay already outta tournament and T&T's slim chances to go further - I guess it's going to be England and Sweden in the second round. The clash between them should be very interesting and fierce, I hope. The loser is going to play against Germany for sure. The winner - against Ecuador. So, the last match will be still worth winning.

[Barkworm]

I'm not sure abut Germany winning the group anymore, the match against Ecuador might end in a draw. I'm not really afraid of England though.

[Ra]

Eh, thought I might join in since Australia pwned Japan.

GREEN AND GOLD! GREEN AND GOLD! GREEN AND GOLD!

[Dinny]

Originally Posted by Ra

Eh, thought I might join in since Australia pwned Japan.

Which match were you watching?

Argentina - Serbia was a masterclass in football. Argentina had so much possession it was coming out the wazoo. 6-0! 6 great goals to add to the tournament's large collection. Serbia will feel hard done by due to the red card (referees have been poor so far) but no one would have beaten Argentina today.

Also, the prospect of facing Ecuador worries me more than Germany. They have been great so far. Although I'll reserve final judgement for when Germany play Ecuador.

[Sewer Bull]

Argentina totally pwned Serbian ass... HARDCORE! Serbia have really disappointed me - I thought they were going to perform much better in Germany. Meanwhile, they're very, very weak. They would have lost 6-0 in the previous match against The Netherlands if it hadn't been for Robben's selfishness. As for Argentina - I'm waiting for their final group showdown, against the Dutch team - it's going to show how good the Argentinians really are. Because they weren't that great against Ivory Coast.

[Dinny]

Originally Posted by Sewer Bull

They would have lost 6-0 in the previous match against The Netherlands if it hadn't been for Robben's selfishness.

Even more examples of that today against Ivory Coast. In my opinion, Ivory Coast should have got at least a draw, and Robben is overrated.