[OT] 2002 World Cup, part 2

[Lars Frehse]

Oh, England losing against Brazil spoiled my dream-final, by the way:
I was secretly wishing for Germany vs. England...
But I am hardly in the position to complain, eh?

 

[Lichtenhart]

I totally agree about 1994 final... or the whole tournament for what matters. We reached the final out of pure blind luck. And I'm still wondering why they didn't make Ronaldo play right then. Italy-Brazil 0-3. No penalties. That would have been the result. When will I ever see Italy playing decently? When will I ever see the Azzurri playing with their hearts, like in 1982? And singing the hymn, by the way? Bah! Let's see if in Portugal 2004 something will change.

Watch out for Turkey, Rashak. I think Turkey vs Senegal was the best played match in the whole tournament. You'll have to destroy their schemes to win, and it won't be easy. But with Ronaldo back it's a whole different matter. I'll be there watching. Good luck!


BTW, am I the only one to think the Golden Goal rule it's an awful one?

 

[dpdx]

Hosts and Holders

Whatever happens, I hope it's Germany lifting the Cup.

It may not be the most beautiful soccer, and German fans may not very well believe in their team, but bar none, the best possible sportsmanship was showed by Rudi Voller and Team Germany after they knocked my USA squad from the quarters.

Classest act in international soccer, period. The sight of coach Voller and the team shaking hands and talking with every American in the side was so impressive, it helped take the edge off my disappointment. And so I'm behind them in the final.

Since the holders now have to qualify for future World Cups, and I never really agreed with the hosts getting in for free (Korea and Japan would've both qualified from Asia, easily), it would be justice for Germany to actually be holding the Cup they host in '06. And I'd love to be there for it.

 

[chillwindhaven69]

quote:lars frehse
The greatest strength of the German team had been that they had a good team spirit and a readiness to run and help each other.

i disagree, the greatest strength of the german team is to have a very easy group where they could rack up the goals.
miroslav klose (a mediocre striker at best), could end up with the golden boot due to the fact that saudi arabia obviously believe a tackle is a bookable offence.


rashak mani:england were non-existent throughtout the tournament with the exception of the argentina (which was a great performance) and rio ferdinand is the only player who came home with any credit at all. we would not have scored against you if it weren't for lucio doing his usual..........having a great game and then making a stupid mistake. to be honest beckham apitomizes englands efforts during their games against sweden and brazil and maybe denmark, too interested in his hair and how cool he looks to start winning the ball and playing the passes he is capable of, also with steven gerrard injured, it was a huge blow, he would have probably replaced scholes as he under-performed as well, whereas nicky butt was a pleasant surprise. i am not just saying this as a liverpool fan but if gerrard was playing against brazil, but like rivaldo said, england would have won, for a start gerrard would have made the tackle on gilberto silva wghich scholes backed out of for rivaldos goal.

our whole country is under a false impression if they believe england had anywhere near the class to win the world cup.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

our whole country is under a false impression if they believe england had anywhere near the class to win the world cup.

I really believed in them after watching them take apart the Danes. But after their performance against Brazil I would say they should get some pointers from the Americans.

It is not that I can blame anyone for losing to Brazil. It is how they lost. I lose all respect for a team that looks so completely uninspired down a goal, a man up, and the clock ticking.

Waiting for the other team to make a mistake may get you to the 2nd round, but it is never going to be good enough to make it to the final.

Sorry, if you think I sound harsh. It was the one game I stayed up past my bed time to see and I rooted for them with all my heart. Very disappointing.

 

[chillwindhaven69]

ridleys cohort.......you da man...spoken by atrue white englishmen, well actually, i am inly 16.

after beating denmark, i felt confident but the signs were there with the performance of people like beckham still not meeting the standards we expect.
i agree completely with you on the brazil game..........a goal down, a man up.......we played like we had won the game and were playing out the last few seconds.......it wouldnt have surprised me to see kieron dyer running to keep the ball at the cornerflag.......we should have took the game to the brazilians not watched whilst they did it to us.

 

[Rashak Mani]

In Brazil we have a saying:
Those who dont DO, have it DONE to them... or something similar.

Dallying around wasnt a good option... seems the English team was disorganized or lost somehow. Good captain maybe would have spurred them on ?

Well I´m going to see the Turkey Fried vs Brazil soon.... good luck to us.

 

[Yuan-Ti]

Greetings all!

Miroslav Klose: what a freaking baby! I suspected he was a tool, but after the way he acted in the game yesterday, I despise him. I would much rather see Carsten Janker in there, but I suspect he is injured and that is why he is getting ZERO playing time. I mean, Bierhoff? The guy was good, but now seems burned out. He doesn't run down the ball at all. He's just marking time out there on the field.

The good news for Germany? They finally looked like a team that really wanted to win! I have seen all their games and this is the first one (aside from Saudi Arabia) in which they outplayed their opponents for 85 minutes. They showed some trouble getting really good scoring chances, but they seemed in total control of the game.

I still stand by my earlier claim that this is the worst team (talent-wise) to ever reach the finals. But I am a little bit more impressed. Mostly with the coaching, though.

How will they do against Brazil/Turkey? Hard to say. Especially with Ballack sidelined. Brazil should beat them and Germany should beat Turkey. But nothing else has gone as planned in this WC, so...

 

[ninthcouncil]

... seems the English team was disorganized or lost somehow. Good captain maybe would have spurred them on ?

It's a problem in the English team. All the players seem sort of self-contained. Where you'd often look for the leadership - central defence and midfield - you find quiet guys like Sol Campbell and Paul Scholes, admirable in their own way but not the sort of characters you need to cajole/bully/inspire a team into that little bit extra that turns games around. Where is Tony Adams when you need him?

Furthermore, without Gerrard the midfield lacks imagination. When he was injured for Liverpool last season, they all too often resorted to banging the ball hopefully upfield in the hope that Owen would be able to do something with it. The same thing seems to happen to England. They also badly lack a forward with the guile and intelligence to play in the deeper position. Sheringham is at the end of his career, and Emile Heskey is not the answer...

 

[bensei]

Brasil vs. Turkey:
'Always such teams, which are happy with getting a a 1-0 over the time...'

And now two such teams in the final