World Cup 2006 in Germany

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 02 Jul 2006, 23:34

It's sad to see the tabloid press blame Ronaldo for England going out.

The Sun's throw a dart at Ronaldo article is a disgrace.

Just when I was beginning to feel a modicum of sympathy for the team...

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 03 Jul 2006, 07:49

I agree with you Mark.

No single player should be made a scapegoat.
But didnt Ronaldo headbutt Rooney from behind?

Maybe thats why Rooney shoved him.

But as you say - IMO the blame lies with Sven, not the players who were magnificent under the circumstances, not the ref or anyone else

BBC analysis after the game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylMqeyMg ... 20headbutt

If Ronaldo did headbutt Rooney he should of been booked for that as well. Obviously he was trying to wind him up and it succeeded.

I'll shut up now

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 03 Jul 2006, 09:35

ronaldo is a worm. if the referee had blown for a foul on rooney earlier in the incident then the alleged stamping wouldn't have happened. at the end of the day though england were very poor all tournament and i fancy if portugal had not had deco suspended it wouldn't even have gone to penalties. however we are not alone in underachieving; holland/spain/argentina/czech/brazil would all have expected to do better.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 03 Jul 2006, 09:39

True. I agree, we should of done better. Disappointing.
Hope we do better with the new captain.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 03 Jul 2006, 12:19

Why do you think England should do better? On the basis of what exactly? England hasn't won a football tournament in 40 years yet classes itself alongside progressive football nations such as Germany and France. Superior teams such as Brazil and Argentina were knocked out already so why is England so surprised that the same should happen to them? They had 90 mins to score same as everyone else. England aren't out because of Ronaldo but because they weren't good enough. Ronaldo was doing his job as a footballer and if Rooney can't control himself that's his (and England's) problem. Make no excuses for the chav.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 03 Jul 2006, 13:36

Mark, we're not. I've already said Rooney deserved the red. But Ronaldo clearly provokes Rooney and headbutts him, yet he doesnt even get a talking to, let alone a foul. Just pointing out he is not totally blameless IMO.

But its immaterial now.

Group hug

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 03 Jul 2006, 14:06

Wonder who'll win tomorrow then?

France seem to be in the acendancy (sp?) this tournament, they could win IMO.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 03 Jul 2006, 14:17

France is better than Portugal, that's for sure.

It's probably going to be a France-Germany final.
The winner will be the one who's got the biggest checkbook (Jacques Chirac or Angela Merkel)

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 03 Jul 2006, 14:24

I wouldnt mind seeing Germany win TBH

But I'd be happy with either Germany or France.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 03 Jul 2006, 16:42

grim_tales wrote:Mark, we're not. I've already said Rooney deserved the red. But Ronaldo clearly provokes Rooney and headbutts him, yet he doesnt even get a talking to, let alone a foul. Just pointing out he is not totally blameless IMO. But its immaterial now. Group hug

I wasn't specifically aiming that whole post towards you, Grim - just the first part about expecting England to do better. I'm not sure why that is? Brazil you expect to do better than the quarter finals. But England?

Yeah, Ronaldo needles Rooney, but I don't believe his later foul and aggression had anything to do with it. That's just his natural way. A smart player would've taken extra care to avoid being goaded into violence. Would Rooney have been able to coax Ronaldo into fouling him? I doubt it. As for the "headbutt" the commentators seemed to think it was playful - I'm not so sure. It depends on what was said. Regardless Rooney only has himself to blame and it pisses me off to see fans and critics virtually defending him as though we should expect and accept that sort of behaviour.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 03 Jul 2006, 16:50

Agreed (re: Rooney's bad behaviour).

Of course, it has no place in football.

Anyway, about England, its always the way, there's always a huge hype with England, especially this year it was said to be our best chance in years with the players we had and the relatively easy group draw. When expectations are built up you'll always be disappointed IMO. We performed below expectations but then so did Czech, Argentina, Spain, Brazil etc...

Oh well

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 03 Jul 2006, 17:06

Slightly belated but I'd like to say that I'm kinda gutted that England went out the way they did. It's cruel and it would've been fun to see England get through to the semi's.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 03 Jul 2006, 17:33

Well, Andy Murray fell on his arse at Wimbledon so we're even.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 03 Jul 2006, 17:35

Agree Bisc, gutted

Mark:

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 03 Jul 2006, 19:00

fuck me rooney never killed anyone !! :shock: england were expected to do better this time because it's pretty much acknowledged we have our best collection of talented players than we've had for years. Rooney is a superb player,gerrard is awesome, lampard, terry & ferdinand would get into most european teams.of course they needed to gel as a team and they never,that's why we are disappointed.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 04 Jul 2006, 00:26

Umm, OK, Sam, your opinion, but I think England vastly overrate themselves. I don't think anyone in the know really expected England to win the cup did they?

Just because Rooney didn't kill anyone - AFAIK - doesn't mean his behaviour is excusable. He may well have cost his team a place in the semi-finals. You guys should be pissed at him... I don't care!

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 04 Jul 2006, 09:47

who said anyone expected england to win the cup? i didn't but with the players at our disposal i expected them to perform better than they did.

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 04 Jul 2006, 10:01

I didnt expect England to win, because I already knew what a cowardly twat Eriksson is. He was the team's weakest link.
Because when you look at all the individual players, England really should have done better. Not just result-wise, but especially in the way they played football.

Yet they were shite, complete and utter shite, and still they reached the quarter finals (sadly)
Just imagine if they had gotten a coach who would have gotten this team's full potential out of them!? A guy like Hiddink perhaps!?
Then we all would have seen a great playing England, because they have got lots of talent.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 04 Jul 2006, 14:17

saltysam wrote:who said anyone expected england to win the cup? i didn't but with the players at our disposal i expected them to perform better than they did.

They got to the quarter finals... how much further did you expect them to go then? They did as well as Brazil and Argentina.

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 04 Jul 2006, 14:26

Markgway wrote:
saltysam wrote:who said anyone expected england to win the cup? i didn't but with the players at our disposal i expected them to perform better than they did.
They got to the quarter finals... how much further did you expect them to go then? They did as well as Brazil and Argentina.

England, considering the players they have, COULD come as far as the semi finals or even the final. They have great players in defence, midfield, Rooney up front, and a decent GK.
However, like I said, they have/had a shite manager, which resulted in them playing shite football.
I'm surprised they even reached the quarter finals, with the football that they played. They didnt deserve to even get past the group-phase.

BTW, luck also has ALOT to do with how far a team comes in the tournament. Brazil wouldnt even have reached the quarter finals if they had been in a tougher group. Holland and Argentina were in a tough groupl, but countries like Germany and England and Brazil were in pretty easy groups... so they could just relax a bit in the group-phase.

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 04 Jul 2006, 17:00

So I've a bet on with my mate that Germania will crush the Italians. I'll owe him a pint if I lose. :x

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 04 Jul 2006, 17:10

Gawd I hope they will indeed crush the italians, cause I cant stand the italians.
Plus Germany has played some great football this tournament so they deserve to win it.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 04 Jul 2006, 17:45

Germany never won a match against the Italians in any Soccer World Cup. Today, history might change.

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 04 Jul 2006, 18:29

Ow shit, those stats arent good :'(
I REALLY want the italians to lose...

COME ON GERMANY!!!

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 04 Jul 2006, 21:30

This is the worst fucking WC EVER!
dirty Italians again through :x