EN World World Cup blog

[Spud]

Theres the thing though, Englands only threat was the free kicks but if we dropped the show pony we would have lennon on in place of him a real threat on the right and still have threat from dead ball with Gerard and Lampard.. No one in a football team is worth aplace just for their ability with the dead ball (and the one thing i will grant you is beckam is half decent at that, but this was the firsty goal in four years so only half decent)

 

[Crothian]

Anyone watching the yellow card fest game? I'm hoping they break the record of most yellow cards in a game.

 

[johnsemlak]

Yeah, I wonder if this has entered teh recordbooks. The ref's Russian by the way.

Looks like the portuguese are going to eek this one out.

 

[Keith Robinson]

Anyone watching the yellow card fest game? I'm hoping they break the record of most yellow cards in a game.

16 yellow cards and 4 reds. I believe that equals the number of yellow cards dished out in a World Cup match and beats the red total tally. Might be wrong though.

 

[Keith Robinson]

Theres the thing though, Englands only threat was the free kicks but if we dropped the show pony we would have lennon on in place of him a real threat on the right and still have threat from dead ball with Gerard and Lampard.. No one in a football team is worth aplace just for their ability with the dead ball (and the one thing i will grant you is beckam is half decent at that, but this was the firsty goal in four years so only half decent)

I agree. I thought his contribution was poor today, up until the goal of course. Personally, I'd drop Lampard (he's been very poor), revert to 4-4-2 with Gerard and Carrick in central midfield and give Lennon a crack on the right, with Rooney and Crouch up front. Sven won't do it, though.

 

[Jdvn1]

Germany defeated Sweden. I thought it was an excellent match, and I thought the Germans were in better form than ever.

Agreed.

On the other hand, I think the Portugal-Netherlands game was a disgrace for both countries involved.

 

[Jdvn1]

Anyone watching the yellow card fest game? I'm hoping they break the record of most yellow cards in a game.

Obviously pushing the Portugal player who was looking after his teammate? Should've been red, not yellow.

 

[Klaus]

The game could've been saved if the Russian refereee had pulled out a red card on the Netherland...ish ... er player who did a flying kick on Cristiano Ronaldo's thigh in the first 10 minutes of game (it's the same one who elbowed Figo on the face near the end of the game). Showing just a yellow card was a disgrace, and signalled to the Netherlands that it was a free-for-all game. Cristiano Ronaldo played for another 10 minutes before leaving the field in tears (after starting the play that ended with Portugal's goal).

The true disgrace was upon the Netherlands for their utmost lack of fair play, to note:

Portugal defended against an attack by the Netherlands, then began a counterattack, oblivious to the fact that one of the Portuguese defenders had fallen, injured. Portugal was well past the midfield when the Russian referee stopped the play so the player could be attended to. Upon restart, instead of kicking the ball to the side and returning the possession to Portugal, the Netherland...ish...ers just ran with it, prompting an already enraged Deco to stop the play with a heavy foul, earning him a red card. But by then, beacuse of their utter lack of fair play and gentleman attitude, the Netherlands began being booed by the entire stadium, who cheered every time Portugal had the ball.

This match is being known as the Battle of Nurenberg.

 

[OakwoodDM]

And did you catch the one in the Argentina/Mexico match where the ref carded the wrong player?

Actually, that's the mistake the commentators made as well. There was nothing wrong with the card. As far as I (and my housemate who was watching with me) saw it, the free kick was given for an innocuous foul (yes, a foul, but not bookable) and then Castro, who had the ball at the time, kicked it away. Now, that's a bookable offence, and he was duly booked.

It really frustrated us that no-one in the backroom of the BBC (or ITV, I can't remember which) commentary booth came up to the commentators and pointed out the reality of the matter, when they mentioned it about half a dozen times in the rest of the match.

 

[Klaus]

Actually, that's the mistake the commentators made as well. There was nothing wrong with the card. As far as I (and my housemate who was watching with me) saw it, the free kick was given for an innocuous foul (yes, a foul, but not bookable) and then Castro, who had the ball at the time, kicked it away. Now, that's a bookable offence, and he was duly booked.

It really frustrated us that no-one in the backroom of the BBC (or ITV, I can't remember which) commentary booth came up to the commentators and pointed out the reality of the matter, when they mentioned it about half a dozen times in the rest of the match.

Precisely.