GO SWEDEN!!

[Casinomeister]

GO SWEDEN!!

 

[Webzcas]

HAHAHA.

Are you going to fly a big Swedish flag from your house as well? I guess you would have a similar reaction from your neighbours if I had a Spanish flag draped over my balcony.

I dare you!



Talking about the world cup, I think it is about time, that Spear makes public his match predictions. Not only insightful and amusing, he has proven to be very jinxed

 

[marcholmes]

That's one scary pic

 

[cheekymonkey]

C'mon ENGLAND!

 

[Casinomeister]

HAHAHA.

Are you going to fly a big Swedish flag from your house as well? I guess you would have a similar reaction from your neighbours if I had a Spanish flag draped over my balcony.

I dare you!

I was going to hang little flags on my balcony, but I'd probably get my ass kicked - especially if the Swedes win

The town next to ours still has a monument where two Swedish soldiers were skinned alive during the thirty years war. And there is modern scupture that commemorates the women who poured boiling oil etc. on the Swedish invaders. I thought it was a simple fountain depicting three village women pouring buckets of water over a wall. Germans are so funny.

GO SWEDEN!!

 

[vinylweatherman]

Rather not

So long as England make it to the Final, but if Sweden have to lose to allow England to progress, that's how it will have to be

 

[Simmo!]

Quick pull the flags in Bryan! 0-2 down after 12 mins - not good! Please don't support England tomorrow

 

[Casinomeister]

GO DEUTSCHLAND!!!

Ja wohl!!

 

[Webzcas]

Quick pull the flags in Bryan! 0-2 down after 12 mins - not good! Please don't support England tomorrow

Don't worry there is hope. Spear is backing the Germans. So all is not lost for Sweden.

 

[nielsenj]

I have never been a fan of the German national team, but Klinsmann's team plays attractive offensive and technical football. For the first time in find myself cheering for my neighbours to the south.

JETZT GEHT'S LOOS!!!

 

[Slotster!]

Shoulda been 9-0!

Not like Germany to suddenly turn into the best team in the world following the group stages...

Bugger.

 

[Pinababy69]

Don't worry there is hope. Spear is backing the Germans. So all is not lost for Sweden.

Hey Spear, can I get your picks for the 8th at Woodbine? Ha ha ha.....

Funny thread you guys!

 

[largeeyes]

Holy crap, what was up with that PK? He looked like he was trying to put a hole in the back of the net.

 

[spearmaster]

Holy crap, what was up with that PK? He looked like he was trying to put a hole in the back of the net.

Henrik Larsson was looking to put an exclamation point on the end of his international career - and he made a complete mess of it.

I should thank him, though, because he allowed me to collect my full bet instead of a half.

Sadly, there are a lot of frustrated bigshots in the WC...

* Lampard (who shoots every time he touches the ball)
* Beckham (who barely touches the ball)
* Ballack (who wants to justify his value after leaving Bayern Munich for Chelsea)
* Shevchenko (who resorts to tripping over himself to earn penalties so he can justify his move to Chelsea as well)
* Ronaldo (who couldn't hit the side of a barn until he was standing next to the barn)
* Henry (who had to be gifted a goal to break his streak as well as the whole team's goalless streak)
* van Nistelrooy (looks like a chicken running around with its head cut off)

If they would all calm down and play their usual game they would be way more effective - but the WC seems to bring out the worst in them.

Today, England are giving Ecuador a one-ball handicap, while Portugal and Holland are even but Holland is slightly favored in the straight odds.

Ecuador has proven to be a big surprise in the WC, and they could threaten but it's not likely that they will beat England, or even draw, if Rooney finds form and Gerrard gets an early start.

England 2, Ecuador 0.

Portugal and Holland is going to be another classic battle. Just about all the big shots are available for tonight's game - so in a close battle it's going to depend on Arjen Robben's form for Holland, and Deco plus Cristiano Ronaldo's form for Portugal.

A very difficult call indeed, but I'm going to lean towards Holland because Robben has been most influential in Holland's early stage games.

Holland 2, Portugal 1

Now let's see who's jinxed

 

[Simmo!]

Gotta say though that FIFA's clampdown on diving and shirt-pulling has definately helped temper the more cynical side of the game. Nice to see they got something right at last!

 

[Vesuvio]

* Ronaldo (who couldn't hit the side of a barn until he was standing next to the barn)

Bit harsh on "el gordo" after he scored a very nice brace

Agree with most of the rest, except that that is Lampard's usual game It's just that normally he scores one or two of them!

The heat's going to be the big threat to England today, so a few thunderstorms wouldn't go amiss...

 

[cheekymonkey]

Even though I love England with all my heart, they have been so boring to watch so far. The best game for me so far was Italy v USA. What a cracker!! The USA nearly had them as well. Unlucky guys. Germany were very nervous in the opening game, but since then they have come on leaps and bounds and could go all the way. Argentina are not far behind, with Brazil.

Hopefully we won't be seeing any of this type of nonsense as well!

COME ON ENGLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Slotster!]

>* Lampard (who shoots every time he touches the ball)

Heh hee.. Shame more of them can't be on target!!

>* Beckham (who barely touches the ball)

TOTALLY disagree... The guy never ever ever puts a ball wrong. Noone in the world can place a ball like he can, and he does it every single game.

>* Ronaldo (who couldn't hit the side of a barn until he was standing next to
>the barn)

TOTALLY TOTALLY disagree... Ok - he's a little on the 'heavy' side this year, but the build up play and finish on Thursday were world class. Unless you were talking about Cristiano?

>England 2, Ecuador 0.

I've taken a flyer on a 3-2 thriller! Gerrard twice and Rooney.

COME ON ENGLAND!!!

 

[cheekymonkey]

>

COME ON ENGLAND!!!

1-1 (Rooney) for me.

2nd half of extra time, with 2 minutes to go Beckham scores from a free kick outside the box. We win 2-1. The whole f^&*$g country is in a frenzy. Everybody gets pissed and nobody turns up for work tomorrow!

Beckham is elected Prime Minister with immediate effect.

The Queen declares a public holiday until the end of the tournament.

Dream, dream, dream!!!!!!!

 

[Webzcas]

If they would all calm down and play their usual game they would be way more effective - but the WC seems to bring out the worst in them.

Today, England are giving Ecuador a one-ball handicap, while Portugal and Holland are even but Holland is slightly favored in the straight odds.

Ecuador has proven to be a big surprise in the WC, and they could threaten but it's not likely that they will beat England, or even draw, if Rooney finds form and Gerrard gets an early start.

England 2, Ecuador 0.

Now let's see who's jinxed

Oh Crap!

 

[Webzcas]

Gotta say though that FIFA's clampdown on diving and shirt-pulling has definately helped temper the more cynical side of the game. Nice to see they got something right at last!

I nominate England's Finest for best referee of the tournament.

Stand Up GRAHAM POLL

 

[cheekymonkey]

I nominate England's Finest for best referee of the tournament.

Stand Up GRAHAM POLL

Poor guy is NEVER gonna live that down.

I feel for you Graham.

 

[spearmaster]

Bit harsh on "el gordo" after he scored a very nice brace

Agree with most of the rest, except that that is Lampard's usual game It's just that normally he scores one or two of them!

The heat's going to be the big threat to England today, so a few thunderstorms wouldn't go amiss...

El Gordo's brace came after the game was settled... one of the goals wasn't half bad, no argument there. But in the two previous games one could have sworn he was as lost as Mary's little lamb...

Lampard isn't quite that bad in league play... LOL... at least he understand what "pass" means then... and even when he shoots he often could have manoeuvered into a better position, or taken a bit more time before the shot - so he's definitely not making the best of his opportunities.

I don't think England will wilt in the heat, they've already had time to get acclimatized and unless Ecuador make them run like silly, there shouldn't be any major problems.

Even though I love England with all my heart, they have been so boring to watch so far. The best game for me so far was Italy v USA. What a cracker!! The USA nearly had them as well. Unlucky guys.

I couldn't agree more - I thought that was the best game of the round-robin stages. Although I wouldn't go so far as to say England has been boring - just not on song.

Last night's Argentina-Mexico game was also exciting even with the lack of goals, and was decided by the goal of the tournament in my opinion when Hernandez trapped and volleyed from the edge (more like the corner) of the box - absolutely spectacular goal and Mexico surely can't be ashamed at being put out of the WC like that.

>* Beckham (who barely touches the ball)

TOTALLY disagree... The guy never ever ever puts a ball wrong. Noone in the world can place a ball like he can, and he does it every single game.

Absolutely true. He's been placing the ball squarely at the feet of the opposition all tournament - that is, when he actually touches the ball.

>* Ronaldo (who couldn't hit the side of a barn until he was standing next to
>the barn)

TOTALLY TOTALLY disagree... Ok - he's a little on the 'heavy' side this year, but the build up play and finish on Thursday were world class. Unless you were talking about Cristiano?

He was total shite in the first two games. The last game was just because they left him alone based on his past performance, and besides which the game had already been decided.

Don't get me wrong - these are still two of the best players in the world and when they are on form they are absolutely spectactular to watch - but as far as I am concerned they have been really disappointing so far.

The refs, on the other hand, are the worst in recent memory, including Poll who is usually quite reliable. Thank GOD they finally started making bad decisions which actually fell MY way for a change!

Go England!

I forgot one other thing - Rio better be fit, and Sol better keep the bench warm. If they let Sol in again, sure enough Ecuador will take advantage... that was one of the most boneheaded non-plays I've ever seen Sol make by letting the ball hit the ground on a long throw and allowing Sweden to equalize at last gasp. Unforgiveable.

 

[spearmaster]

here we go...

this is looking good. Gerrard's in the starting lineup with Rooney as lone forward, with Crouch on the bench. Owen's still listed as a sub but obviously he unfortunately will be taking no further part in the WC.

 

[spearmaster]

Becks touches the ball five times in the first half. Only once did he complete a pass, and one free kick that found a teammate. The rest was exactly as I said - straight to the opponent, or way off target when he took a shot.

Not exactly what I would call influential - certainly no where near his best form.

Joe Cole, on the other hand, continues to impress me each time I watch him - and I used to think he totally sucked. Even Owen Hargreaves isn't quite the bumbling idiot he used to be... LOL...

Quote from BBC's live online commentary:

40 mins: Another foul on Frank Lampard and another poor delivery from the free-kick by David Beckham. Beat the first man skip, don't hit him.