EN World World Cup blog

[OakwoodDM]

God Almighty, Ukraine vs Switzerland made England's play this world cup look exciting and thrilling!

Two teams going all out to not lose, and unsurprisingly it goes 2 hours with no goals. Heck, Switzerland couldn't even manage one in three attempts from the penalty spot!
Still, my preferred team of the two went through (I couldn't bear Italy vs Switzerland. The best defensive team in the competition against someone who plays to not lose? Ouch!).
Shevchenko knows most of the Italian defenders fairly well, so Italy vs Ukraine could be interesting provided the Ukraine play properly.


As for Italy vs Australia, it was foolish for Neil to go in like that (I assume he was expecting a cross or shot and attempting to block it) but it didn't deserve a penalty.
Australia deserved to at least take it to extra time, and I'd have liked their chances in a shootout. Italy are terrible at them...truly terrible.

 

[Keith Robinson]

Okay, I've finally woken up after the Swiss - Ukraine game. Worst match of the world cup so far. Even the penalty shoot out was the most boring I've ever seen. It's actually making me drowsy just thinking about it

Today's matches should be fun. You gotta call Brazil over Ghana, especially with Essien being suspended for this match, but you never know... it would be the biggest shock of the world cup so far if they managed to knock Brazil out.

France and Spain is just too close to call. On form, you'd have to say Spain, but they have a history of just throwing it away after having looked good in the group games. France, on the other hand, just can't score goals. Zidane looks well past his best and Henry looks totally out of sorts. So, that'll be a 2-0 win to France with both Zidane and Henry scoring then

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Perhaps the ref noticed the Italian player tripping on the Aussie's Kirlian Aura?

 

[MonsterMash]

Some predictions for today

Brazil 1 : 2 Ghana - the upset we've all been waiting for and a chance for the Black Stars to shine.

Spain 3 : 1 France - a fading French team gets demolished by one of the few teams to hit form in this tournament.

 

[Keith Robinson]

Some predictions for todayBrazil 1 : 2 Ghana - the upset we've all been waiting for and a chance for the Black Stars to shine.

Nice thinking, MonsterMash, but without Essien, I think they're going to get beat - probably 2-1 to Brazil IMO. It would certainly be great if Ghana did knock them out though

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Oh crud, Brazil- Ghana is today. For some reason I was thinking it was tomorrow when I'll have some time off from work. I was really looking forward to seeing this match. I think it could be a really exciting to watch. Oh well, I'll just have to see the highlights tonight.

 

[johnsemlak]

I'm getting my picks in just before Brazil and Ghana kick off.

I think Ghana might do better than some people imagine even without Essian. He's a great player but Ghana have other stars and one player can never make that much different. I still predict Brazil to win. 3-1, but perhaps a game that will look closer than that. Ronaldo will break Muller's recored.

Spain - France. I find it interesting that a number of pundits I've read predict that France will finally find some wind after being so lethargic for so long. I find it difficult to resistthis thinking, even though form indicates thsi should be a Spain whitewash. I predict 0-0 after 90 minutes. Can't say what will happen then, though France might eek out a game winner or win on penalties.

 

[johnsemlak]

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.

I dunno, I certainly can't blame Sven for sticking with the guy whose free kick won both of England's 1-0 victories. England might be able to get good kicks out of Gerrard, but Beckham has a different class IMO. In a sport where 50 % or more of goals are scored off of set pieces it makes sense to have your best set piece man. Particularly in the knockout stages, where tight matches are to be expected.

Plus, while Beckham's contribution's are limited, he certainly does more than free kicks. Off of the top of my head Peter Croach's goal against Trinidad was from a superb Beckham cross, and against Equador Beckham made an excellent 50-60 yard pass that almost connected with Rooney.

I know little about Carrick and Lennon but they seem to have virtually no experience at this level of competiion and I find it a bit optomistic to think that using either of them in lieu of starting Beckmam will greatly energize England's offence. In these matches you've got to rely on your veterans.

 

[johnsemlak]

Halftime Brazil 2 Ghana 0

Halftime whisle just blew and things are going about as I expected. Ronaldo has broken Muller's WC scoring record. Ghana have had some wonderful opportunities and look better than the scoreline indicates. But Brazil's class is carrying them through, and probably gave htem the benefit of an offsides no-call on Adriano's goal.

 

[LostSoul]

So far, Brazil-Ghana has been a great match. Bad luck for Ghana.

Though I thought that second goal was offside. But I always said, "It's not what actually happened, but how the ref calls it."