EN World World Cup blog

[Keith Robinson]

I don't remember how far they got last World Cup, but I thought it was past the round of 16. Do you remember how far they got?

France got knocked out after the first round in the last world cup, winless and goaless. The goal they scored against South Korea was their first in the World Cup finals since the last they scored against Brazil in the final of the 1998 World Cup.

Weird, huh?

For the record, here are their 2002 results:

France 0 Senegal 1
France 0 Uruguay 0
Denmark 2 France 0

 

[Jdvn1]

Wow! My memory's older than I remember.

 

[Keith Robinson]

Okay, my quarter-final predictions are:

Argentina v Germany: I'm really looking forward to this one and I think it will be a tight. I'd say 1-1 with Argentina to progress through a penalty shoot out.

England v Portugal: Scolari has twice out-foxed Eriksson and there's every chance he'll do so again. However, Deco is a fantastic player and they will miss his creativity. Also, although I fully expect Ronaldo to play, I'm not sure he'll be 100% fit. I also think England will be desperate to put one over Scolari. So, an optimistic 2-1 win for England. Wouldn't surpirsed if this was another that went to penalties, though.

Italy v Ukraine: Italy all the way. 1-0 and into the semis.

Brazil v France: Another great match up. Neither team has exactly played that well, but I expect Brazil (and Ronaldo in particular) to be out for revenge for their 1998 defeat to France. 2-0 to Brazil.

Of course, my predictions have not exactly been on the button, but there you go

 

[Jdvn1]

2-0 to Brazil.

Of course, my predictions have not exactly been on the button, but there you go

That's good for me.

 

[Sidekick]

PS: Australia's out. I've come to terms with this, even if the rest of the country can't.

I was totally outraged by that loss. Sure Italy are a great team,. but c'mon that was a totally unfair and unsporting penalty to award. If that penalty was awarded 10 or 5 minutes from full-time & italy won. I wouldn't have minded, but to give a game winning penalty in the very last second of the match was cynical beyond all beleeif. Its as if the ref coldn't be bothered with the next 30 mins or had dinner waiting for him at home. jeez.

That Australia lost? I'm not too bothered as I expected it. But the way in which the Italians won? Severly pissed off...

And now to my 1/4er final preditions.

Germany v Argentina: This one is all up for grabs. If Argentina play like they did against Serbia/Montenegro and Germany play like they id against Sweden then it's all on for a great game. I can't pick it, but I'll be cheering for the hosts as I have a german flatmate, I like Ballack and Podolski has the coolest name ever (Podolski shoots'ski, scores'ski & its 1-Nilski!!!).

England v Portugal: hmm seeing as I live in Engerland I'll be supporting the boys in white. Should be close and hopefullly a good game.

Italy v Ukraine: If Italy can't win this, then the dont' deserve to win the world cup. They should outclass the Ukrainians in every area of the game (possibly bar main striker as Shevchenko is a legend).

France v Brazil: Hmm I feel an upset coming on. Too close to call. Whomever lifts their game the highest will win. If Brazil bring it - they should win 2 or 3 to 1. If France win, hmmmm I'm picking 2-1. But Ideally as a neutral It's time for some good gut-wrenching Penalty shoot outs (after 1-1 of course).

Bring it on I say!!!

 

[Keith Robinson]

Wow! My memory's older than I remember.

I have a fantastic memory. I call it Wiki

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The ambition of other teams is to get to the point where they can win 3-0 and their fans still say they sucked

But for the Goalie and 1 or 2 other players, Brazil DID suck against Ghana.

 

[Klaus]

For almost six months we've been hearing about the Magical Square, made up of Ronaldo, Adriano, Ronaldinho Gaúcho and Kaká. Which turned out to be a dud (at least as proposed). The true magic was in the defensive triangle of Dida (amazing defenses), Juan (very sober) and Lúcio (played a perfect Cup so far -- he's aiming at being voted the best fullback of the Cup, and so far has not done ONE SINGLE FAULT!).

The coach, Parreira, says that playing beautifully doesn't win championships, and people remember the champions, not those who played beautifully. He seems to be forgetting the Netherlands in '74, or Brazil in '82, two teams that are talked about to this day.

There are at least three players in the team who are playing on name alone, and need to be replaced ASAP. Or else Brazil won't make it past France or Portugal/England.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I was totally outraged by that loss. Sure Italy are a great team,. but c'mon that was a totally unfair and unsporting penalty to award. If that penalty was awarded 10 or 5 minutes from full-time & italy won. I wouldn't have minded, but to give a game winning penalty in the very last second of the match was cynical beyond all beleeif. Its as if the ref coldn't be bothered with the next 30 mins or had dinner waiting for him at home. jeez.

That Australia lost? I'm not too bothered as I expected it. But the way in which the Italians won? Severly pissed off...

<snip>

The fact that Italy won due to a penalty that wasn't there is half of the reason I am so upset about the result. The other half of the reason is that because it happened in the last few seconds of extra time we didn't get a chance to have even one last ditch effort to score in reply. Sure we should have scored beforehand with all the possession and a 1 man advantage but that doesn't make the result any easier to take.

Personally I would have preferred if Grosso(?) had scored from that play instead of diving for the penalty. At least we would have lost to a better team and not a bad referee decision.

On the other hand, the Italian player shouldn't have been red carded for his tackle either.

Olaf the Stout

 

[Jdvn1]

Argentina v Germany: I'm really looking forward to this one and I think it will be a tight. I'd say 1-1 with Argentina to progress through a penalty shoot out.

Way to predict the shootout, though wrong result.

Wow, what a game.