World Cup at the semis

[spackler]

Any predictions? Italy looks strongest to me at this point, but once you get to the final four it's a crapshoot.

I'm predicting Italy, but pulling for France because of Zizou. The man is incredible, on the verge of retirement he has played two of the very best games of his career against Spain and Brazil. I will tell my grandkids about him and how lucky I was to watch him play in France in 1998, Holland in 2000, that fantastic goal to win the Champions League for Real in 2002 and now this. What a run. Viera and Makalele have also managed to turn back the clock, it's fun to watch (aside from the 10 offsides/game from Henry).

I hope France runs all the way to the final as I'd hate to see the dirty, cheating Portuguese in the there. You'd think a sniper was picking them off one by one from watching them go down any time another player comes within 6 feet of them. And yes I'm bitter from the Holland game. That said, Rooney was deserving of the red today...squashed nut soup anyone?

[jonf]

At this point, based on prior play, I say Germany is the clear favourite. The way they are playing, with the home town crowd, I can't see them losing. With England out (on yet more atrocious officiating), the 1/4 German in me is entirely behind the home squad (particularly as I love the football they play).

[jonf]

Deserving of the red? Whatever you got ahold of for Canada Day must be pretty nice stuff. That was clearly accidental. He was trying to fend off two guys who were draped all over him like white on rice. In the process, he accidentally stepped on the guys groin, MAYBE (if he had actually stepped on him, the guy would not be back on the field). It was dumb to push Ronaldo, but deserving of a yellow at most (and once I saw that red, every inch of me was hoping rooney would break the guy's nose, simply to earn the red that that Argentine hack gave to him. The refereeing at this Cup has been atrocious. Refs must have more power to punish diving, and must be punished when they don't. They cannot simply be allowed to wag their finger at a player feigning injury, knowing full well they are faking it, and not show them a card. Diving should be an automatic red, plain and simple. It is destroying what used to be THE beautiful game...no more.

Not long ago one of my very favourite parts of international football was the fact that players kicked the ball out when someone was injured, and were deservingly given the ball back when play resumed. No longer do I respect this play. I much prefer an individual to continue play (as most of the time if they do so, the player will hop back up, miraculously cured of their shriek-inspiring affliction). Much of the time, a player will not kick it out if their own player is injured. Why? because they know it is a crock, and would rather keep the ball. But as soon as the ball is turned over they expect the opponents to do the "sportsmanlike" thing and kick it out. The only sportsmanlike thing in that situation is to score a goal so that maybe the next time the guy will think twice about faking an injury, and maybe, just maybe, the greatest sport in the world will regain just a shred of the dignity that once made it the greatest and most anticipated sporting spectacle in the world. Sadly, it has become nothing more than a laughing stock, and FIFA knows it. They have had to apologize for diving and officiating after every second game, and that is simply not acceptable.

[spackler]

Only an England fan wouldn't think the red was deserved, and even then not many. Rooney was clearly supporting his own weight on one leg and made a deliberate stamp with the other. He then pushed Ronaldo. It was stupid, stupid, stupid and you can not blame the ref for that. I think the Portuguese were dirty and fell over quite a bit, but the reffing in that game wasn't so bad. England lost because Gerrard and Lampard were terrible, because Lennon didn't get to start, because Rooney is an immature nitwit, because they only brought 1 healthy striker and because Erikson got his butt handed to him by Scolari who pressed his wingers forward and penned Cole and Neville in their own half.

[Hank Hill]

England were crap anyway, and it would be a disgrace if they were in the semis on the dire performances they put in. A lone striker and pack the midfield, playing spoiling tactics and hoping to nick it 1-0, unforgivable, this is supposed to be the beautiful game.

On a side note, i'm sick of the play-acting at this world cup, the shrieking and rolling over six times before getting stretchered off and then come back into the play. Sometimes it is utterly bizarre as they would prefer to throw themselves at the ground and get a free kick or penalty than actually take a shot at the goal. After that, and this makes me mad is the pathetic gesturing to the referee to book or send the player off. Disgusting, if I was a ref I would send off idiots who told me how to do my job.

[LobWedge]

I completely agree with Hank and spackler, notable exceptions aside, the Brits stunk up the joint. They had a gift-wrapped opportunity to take full advantage with Portugal already down 2 of their big guns to start the day.

Rooney is a childish hooligan who cares nothing about his teammates. Beckham was worse than ineffective (at least he realizes it, he just resigned as England's captain). Lampard needs to see a shrink. The only guys on that team who did anything yesterday were the Coles, Terry, Ferdinand, and Hargreaves who was magnificent. Lennon and Crouch were too little too late, and Walcott should have been given a chance.

As far as the diving goes, that is the one thing that continues to drive me away from "the beautiful game". It's disgusting to see this type of behaviour at the elite level. I really hope that FIFA and UEFA take a long hard look at this issue. It needs to stop.

[jonf]

I'm not debating Rooney was stupid to push Ronaldo, but he was being pulled back by the two of those guys and struggling to keep his balance - certainly not maliciously trying to stomp the guy into a sex change. Only I or an England fan could see it that way? I read at least one article yesterday (surprise, surprise, I can't find it now ) with quotes from a few of the top Fifa officialls who said they were at an absolutle loss to explain the red given to Rooney. Yes, I know there is a disciplinary review, but nothing will come of it, unless he said something REALLY bad about the ref's mother (which may have been part of it).

I must agree that England played like crap (they only began to show their quality once Rooney had been sent off). Erikson must be the worst tactician that I have ever seen. I can't even begin to list all the stupid decisions he made, but anyone who has been watching knows exactly what they were (anyone who has ever watched any soccer knows is). He had screwed them before they even got to Germany, by bringin Theo Walcott, a 17 year old who has never played a professional game, before having even watched him play. He finally saw him play, decided he sucked, but unfortunately, he was already on the squad. The LAST thing you want to do when you have one striker recovering from a broken foot, and another who is undoubtedly the most injury prone soccer player in years, is to bring a forward who you are not certain can start a game if necessary. To make it even worse, Erikson had a perfect chance to give the kid a shot. The last game of the group stage, Owen went down in the first minute, and Crouch already had a yellow. He could have put the kid on and let him show his stuff, without any real risk to the team. All I can say is that I can't wait to see an England team without Erikson behind the bench - something I have yet to witness.

[Hank Hill]

....the Brits stunk up the joint.

Woah! Careful. Brits is short for British and that includes England as well as Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Not sure if there were any referees from Scotland, Wales and NI, but it was definately England those fellows in white were disgracing. There was probably a lot of jubilation in the other 3 countries.

[Hank Hill]

Theo Walcott, a 17 year old who has never played a professional game, before having even watched him play. He finally saw him play, decided he sucked, but unfortunately, he was already on the squad.

Theo played semi-proffesionally (on schoolboy terms) for Southampton before heading to Arsenal, Svens scouts must have watched him at Saint Marys a few times. Still, it was an odd selection seeing as Rooney and Owen were both unfit and Crouch a relative newcomer. Surely, Beattie, Johnston, Dafoe or even Robbie Fowler could have been included.

[fundonny]

I'm crushed. My Germans lost. I have to give Italy credit, they weathered the storm for the last 60 minutes of regulation. But my lord that Italy defense is overrated. The Germans had their way with them, but couldn't get it by Buffon or missed the net. And they are lucky too, that foul on Podolski was in the box, should have been a penalty shot. Great game, it was like full contact football for the first 30 minutes!!!! Considering how everyone wrote off Germany and Klinsman, I'm happy with the result.
QUESTION: Do the goals in the 3rd place match count towards the Golden Boot? Klose has 5 this year, and 10 in two World Cups. He's 28, he should still play in 2010, he might have a shot at the record!

[Hank Hill]

I'm crushed. My Germans lost. I have to give Italy credit, they weathered the storm for the last 60 minutes of regulation. But my lord that Italy defense is overrated. The Germans had their way with them, but couldn't get it by Buffon or missed the net. And they are lucky too, that foul on Podolski was in the box, should have been a penalty shot. Great game, it was like full contact football for the first 30 minutes!!!! Considering how everyone wrote off Germany and Klinsman, I'm happy with the result.
QUESTION: Do the goals in the 3rd place match count towards the Golden Boot? Klose has 5 this year, and 10 in two World Cups. He's 28, he should still play in 2010, he might have a shot at the record!

Hmmmm I know you are dissapointed but I disagree with some of your points. The Italy defence were superb and only allowed Germany bad angle shots. Schneider had a good opportunity after a rare error by Italy's midfield, but missed badly. The "foul" on Podolski was in the area but as no German player actually argued with the referee about that you could tell even they didn't think it was a foul in the first place.

Not a bad effort by Germany though and good news, goals in the 3rd/4th place playoff do count towards the golden boot (Remember that terrible penalty decision in 1990 allow Toto Schilachi to get the boot).

[fundonny]

They did argue, there was a huddle right on the edge of the box for at least two minutes while everyone argued the case. The announcers were even wondering why it wasn't a penalty shot. Oh well, can't do anything about it.
I totally disagree with the defense, but we can agree to disagree.

[jonf]

That foul wasn't really even a foul - it was Podolski backing up and doing his trademark "throw my hands in the air because someone must be fouling me".
That's one thing I would like to see changed in soccer - a penalty shot should only result from a hand-ball or taking away a scoring opportunity. To see penalties given for small infractions that do nothing to prevent a chance seems a shame. If that foul yesterday had been a penalty, that would have been a travesty. On the other hand, it likely was a foul, and it was probably just inside the box. But should a game really be decided on that? Maybe they can create 3 "free kick spots." A couple yards outside the box - 1 in the centre for fouls in the centre, and one on each edge for fouls on the edge of the box. I know its an unikely change, but i just hate to see games decided on iffy penalties -

[Hank Hill]

On a slightly different note I was shocked to see that they had selected Rodney Marsh, as colour analyst. I cannot stand the man, a complete idiot who once had his head shaved infront of a full capacity Valley Parade (Bradford City) after saying that he was so sure they'd be relegated he'd wear a Bradford shirt and have his head shaved in the centre circle if they avoided relegation. Bradford stayed up that year and who was relegated, yep Marsh's favourite team, Manchester City .

During extra time yesterday he made a total fool of himself:

RM: One mistake here and the losers are on the plane home.........*long pause* except if they are Germany.

GB: Errr Rodney, there is a small matter of the 3rd/4th place playoff on Saturday.

RM: Oh...

[jonf]

or the fact that he called it a chess match every time he opened his mouth.

[Hank Hill]

or the fact that he called it a chess match every time he opened his mouth.

What an idiot!

He was fired by Sky Sports for making a joke about the Tsunami and Newcastle United fans (the Toon Army).

[fundonny]

There was also a handball by an Italian in the box in the first half. I think it was Klose who kicked it and it went off the Italian defenders upper arm. They pointed that out on Sportscentre this morning.

That announcer did drive me nuts.

[spackler]

There was also a handball by an Italian in the box in the first half. I think it was Klose who kicked it and it went off the Italian defenders upper arm. They pointed that out on Sportscentre this morning.

That announcer did drive me nuts.

Yeah but it wasn't like the guy stuck his arm out. If they gave penalties for that players wouldn't aim at the net anymore, just at defenders' upper bodies.

[fundonny]

True. Man, I'm watching this game right now. I'm really rooting for France now. Zidane is amazing. What a great career.

[Hank Hill]

I can't for the life of me understand Portugal's tactics at this world cup. 1 up front 2 holding midfielders. They just don't get enough bodies in the box and stay on the periphery of the 18 yard box and then the front man just dives when the ball gets played into him. They do well out wide but only have one target man in the centre, if they win a corner they try the same move everytime, just swing it into the centre and it's meat and gravy for the defence or goalie. You'd think with the dead ball prowess of the likes of Deco, Figo and Ronaldo they'd be a bit more imaginative or have more cutting edge. I'm very frustrated after watching that semi, France just sat back and let Portugal do all the running knowing that Pauletta had no support and that the midfielders would shoot from distance (or just fall over theatrically). Very easy to defend against IMO. Roll on the final, I just hope it will be more open than that game just played.

[jonf]

I'm really looking forward to the third place game. It should be one of the better games of the world cup. I imagine both teams will be playing pretty offensively (no reason to play defensively), and Germany will be eager to win one for the home crowd. Personally, I am looking forward to it more than the final.

Barthez has to be the worst goalie in the World Cup, and possibly one of the worst I have ever seen. He is the rebound king. What the hell was he trying to do on that Ronaldo shot? It was just horrendous. He's been done for about 5 years now.

Just wanted to add that the colour man today was very good. He was actually insightful, and always adding intelligent, relevant comments.

[Wilster]

I can honestly say i'm glad Portugal were put out today, Maybe that's a bit rash but i'm still pied about the way they shamefully displayed themselves against Holland and England.
"Cheaters never win" as they say , that leaves France to beat Italy i guess as the Italians cheated they're way past Australia(obvious dive for the penalty!)
The whole world cup has been really good but FIFA really do need to clamp down on not just diving but "play acting" as well.A video review panel is the obvious solution.
The Germans deserve to be in the final, but realistically they were never that good ,I will give the Italians credit for they way they played against Germany, a superb display.
Christiano Ronaldo was disgraceful in his behaviour against his team mate , but the big wheel keeps on turning , Rooney will have the last say in this one for sure. As a Manchester United fan i'm disappointed for both of them but if Rooney had been smart enough to dive when Carvalho tackled him from behind ,it may have turned out differently. Glad to see he has that aspect of his game correct, and , not to be biased , i did not think that he stamped on the other player.But we'll argue that one out for a long long time.

[sensfan63]

After the Sens lost to the Sabres, I read a post (I thought by jonf) where all the cliches were kicked down. Basically, the point was that the winning team usually deserves to win and does a lot of stuff to make the other team lose. Now, when I read the above posts, mostly about the English loss to Portugal, I can't help thinking about that post.

In the England-Portugal match, the Portugese manager (forget his name - Scolari?) apparently out-managed Erikkson. Well, one manager has to make decisions better than the other! That's how sports work. One player outperforms another from the other team. Just look at France-Portugal. That same Portugese manager was being blasted for not sending more players into the middle to accept crosses. He did the exact same thing against England, but won the game.

My point is, every team has a game plan for each match. They don't just say, "Oh, we're playing Portugal. I hope our plan from the Ecuador match works." No. There is scouting involved. These people do what they do for a reason. They're the best at what they do. And in the end, it's up to the players anyway. If one person is out of position at a specific time, the whole plan falls apart, and it could mean the difference between winning and losing.

And I LOVED the post that said Erikkson wanted to "nitpick and win 1-0. This is supposed to be the beautiful game." Don't all football matches end 1-0?

[Wilster]

No-one's debating the fact that scolari is the better coach than erikkson , thats been proven by the past performances from each team they managed. I just feel a little sickened by the attitude of some of the players , how can they be proud of their actions in front of the whole world , and blatantley cheat to change the fortune of their team. The skills that some of these players possess is more than enough, they don't need to cheat!

[sensfan63]

No-one's debating the fact that scolari is the better coach than erikkson , thats been proven by the past performances from each team they managed. I just feel a little sickened by the attitude of some of the players , how can they be proud of their actions in front of the whole world , and blatantley cheat to change the fortune of their team. The skills that some of these players possess is more than enough, they don't need to cheat!

Oh, I have no issue with your opinion about the conduct of Portugal's players. I think it looks so funny when they go down as if shot, when there wasn't any contact. That wasn't my point at all.

I just find it funny that people criticize managers SO MUCH when there wouldn't be any criticism had England's PLAYERS (the ones who kick the ball in the net) scored a few in the penalty kicks. That's all.

I'm glad France won. In fact, I'd love for them to kick the crap out of the Italians, and then wave a big fat middle finger at everyone - fans, announcers, journalists - who ripped them before and during this World Cup.

[Wilster]

For sure, i'm rooting for France also , i just hope we have a good ref !!!

[Hank Hill]

Just wanted to add that the colour man today was very good. He was actually insightful, and always adding intelligent, relevant comments.

That was Andy Townsend, an excellent colour analyst and a great proffesional for Southampton, Norwich, Chelsea, Aston Villa and of course Rep of Ireland. I had the honour of meeting him when I was 14 years old and he played for Southampton. He is a great person as well as a one of the most under-rated midfielders of his generation. You wouldn't ever see any rolling around clutching his face after a slight shoulder barge, he was as hard as nails but was an excellent playmaker as well, often weighing in with important goals.

[Hank Hill]

For sure, i'm rooting for France also , i just hope we have a good ref !!!

I'm going for Italy, i'm not convinced by France yet, Italy have played better as far as I am concerned.

[jonf]

After the Sens lost to the Sabres, I read a post (I thought by jonf) where all the cliches were kicked down. Basically, the point was that the winning team usually deserves to win and does a lot of stuff to make the other team lose. Now, when I read the above posts, mostly about the English loss to Portugal, I can't help thinking about that post.

In the England-Portugal match, the Portugese manager (forget his name - Scolari?) apparently out-managed Erikkson. Well, one manager has to make decisions better than the other! That's how sports work. One player outperforms another from the other team. Just look at France-Portugal. That same Portugese manager was being blasted for not sending more players into the middle to accept crosses. He did the exact same thing against England, but won the game.

My point is, every team has a game plan for each match. They don't just say, "Oh, we're playing Portugal. I hope our plan from the Ecuador match works." No. There is scouting involved. These people do what they do for a reason. They're the best at what they do. And in the end, it's up to the players anyway. If one person is out of position at a specific time, the whole plan falls apart, and it could mean the difference between winning and losing.

And I LOVED the post that said Erikkson wanted to "nitpick and win 1-0. This is supposed to be the beautiful game." Don't all football matches end 1-0?

There's no doubt that Portugal did what was necessary to win. Neither team really played well, but Portugal won it on penalties. I just take issue with the fact that the reffereeing was VERY poor. Portugal took advantage though, and can't be blamed. People do what they can to win. If you can dive, people will do it. That's the problem - it works so well, it seems stupid not to. When you don't go down at the first touch from an opponent, and try to keep fighting for the ball, with two defenders draped all over your back, not only do you not draw a penalty, but you yourself get a red card for losing your balance and accidentally putting your foot down on your opponent's junk. If he had done the undignified, unsporting thing, and just gone down and thrown his hands in the air, he would have drawn a foul, it would be 11 a side, and the result may have been much different. It's a case where you can look at the players, shake your head and say "Wow, I hate that Ronaldo - he has no dignity and I hope he trips and tears his achilles the next time he runs 45 yards to the ref waving his finger," but ultimately its FIFA's responsibility to get in under control.

As for managing, nobody in the world will disagree that Scolari, one of the best in the world, outmanaged Eriksson. Most of the population of England could outmanage him. No, actually, the entire population of England could outmanage him. He screwed them before they even got to Germany with his brainless selections. Eriksson's strategy barely even worked against Ecuador - one gorgeous free kick was all that saved them from embarassment. He wouldn't even take Beckham off when he was vomiting on the field. And yet, despite the horrible performance, he thought it would work against portugal, a much stronger side.

I'm not debating that the players have their part too. Lampard should have put one away, Lennon should have put one away, and Rooney should have put one away. It just leaves a very sour taste in your mouth knowing that, had they taken another legitimate striker, so that they could have played a 4-4-2, Rooney might have actually gotten some service and had a better chance at scoring for his team. As it was, Rooney was all alone up front, and could do little. Portugal plays fairly defensive soccer, with only one striker. That means you can afford to play with only 4 in midfield, and then have 2 up front, to work TOGETHER against the defence. Sending long balls up to your single striker is NOT effective strategy, unless the guy runs the 100 in 10 seconds flat, and the balls are perfect. It just makes me so mad.