The Official World Cup 2006 Thread

[Counterfit]

Something wrong with that? At least the England team kept there "poor" sportsmanshiop OFF the pitch, the Portugese were without a doubt the most apalling team of the entire tournament.

I dunno, I would consider stepping on a guy's crotch to be pretty poor sportsmanship...

Anyways, I called it.

I'm torn about which team I want to win. Part of me wants the French to win for sentimental reasons (winning the World Cup in your last professional match ever? **** yeah!), but then, I'm more Italian than I am French (1/2 vs. 1/4 (1/8 French, 1/8 French Canadian)), so I could go for Italy. I can't even decide on what I want for dinner most of the time.

people tend to see what they want to see

No kidding?
About the foul, I'll just agree with what Lethal said, because that was quite obviously NOT a dive. (and no matter how much you say so, it WILL NOT become true)

 

[~Shard~]

I don't get what the big deal is regarding the foul on Henry. His right foot was kicked out from under him. That's a foul. He lost his balance. Could he have recovered himself? Sure, probably. But why? Better off to make sure the ref sees it and guarantee your team a PK. Makes sense to me. Regardless, it was a foul inside the box.

Tell me if I'm missing something I guess...

 

[Counterfit]

There's only one person here making a big stink about it. Everyone else agrees that it's a foul.

 

[~Shard~]

There's only one person here making a big stink about it. Everyone else agrees that it's a foul.

Gotcha, thanks.

 

[BakedBeans]

About the foul, I'll just agree with what Lethal said, because that was quite obviously NOT a dive. (and no matter how much you say so, it WILL NOT become true)

HAHHAHHA

Wether or not it was a foul is debatable, wether or not he dived is not. It is clear as day that he dived. Sure, he took a touch on the shin, Then started to run and thought "oh wait, if i dive ill get a pen' then he dived

Yeah, Bakedbeans, you seem to be outnumbered in this opinion of yours.

Yeah, because that means I'm wrong.

Actually, After going around a few football forums with people that watch more football than baseball and aussie rules rugby, a hell of a lot of people agree with me.

It is plain as day that he dived, he threw himself into the air like a queen. I wanted Zidane to score, as I already stated. so, IF I was going to be biased about this then I would have said it was a penalty.

He is a player that speaks out about his hatred of diving, then dives (regardless of it being a foul or not, he was conning the ref)

 

[takao]

well too me it was a foul ... sure perhaps exaggerated by Henry .. but still a foul by the defender

some teams have more divers, others complain all the time and others always look for somebody else to blame (yes England football team, i'm looking at you ... not that the english players are innocent of diving either )

 

[XIII]

Yeah, because that means I'm wrong.

Actually, After going around a few football forums with people that watch more football than baseball and aussie rules rugby, a hell of a lot of people agree with me.

It is plain as day that he dived, he threw himself into the air like a queen. I wanted Zidane to score, as I already stated. so, IF I was going to be biased about this then I would have said it was a penalty.

He is a player that speaks out about his hatred of diving, then dives (regardless of it being a foul or not, he was conning the ref)

As was mentioned above, watch it frame by frame. He tries to put his foot down (left), but it falls at an awkward angle, and he falls over, he has no other foot on the ground. Henry is one of the least cheating and most sporting players in the game, and if he hadn't lost his balance, he could have easily finished that. It was a foul, and a penalty, and for whats its worth, he didn't dive.

His foot slipping under him.

 

[BakedBeans]

Jack, It was ****ing blatant... He did dive, that is obvious. You can tell that but the way he actually thread his arms and body upward.

As for him not being a cheat you might want to watch the spanish game back where he got touched on the chest and rolled around holding his face. In general he is not a cheat, he is one of the fairest players in the premiership.

He clearly dived. That is not to say it is or isnt a pen (which i think it wouldnt have been had he stayed on his feet) but he clearly dived.

I don't really care wether he did or not, and arguing with someone who's favorite player is henry is pointless. I do like the way you said "he would have finished it off easily", how do you know? It was another poor showing in a big game from henry.

I'm glad france won and I really hope Zidane gets to lift the cup.

well too me it was a foul ... sure perhaps exaggerated by Henry .. but still a foul by the defender

That is fair enough, It being a foul or not is debatable. I'm happy to accept the way the ref called it. No less of a dive though. And for a player that says he detests diving to do that isn't on. I said the same thing about Gerrard a few weeks back when he took a dive in an England game. It doesn't do these top players any good.

some teams have more divers, others complain all the time and others always look for somebody else to blame (yes England football team, i'm looking at you ... not that the english players are innocent of diving either )

no team are innocent of diving, or going to ground to easily. I do hate the theatrics though. A little touch and its like they have been pole axed. Maybe I'm just old fashioned but I can remember the days of wimbledon and arsenal when they were a physical nightmare and the challenge was to stay on your feet and win. The challenge now seems to be to con the ref to see what you can get.

 

[sebisworld]

I still can't get over the fact that Germany did not make it. Two minutes that screwed with the once in a lifetime opportunity of watching the host nation play the final in a crowd of million other followers. My Berlin plans were almost finalized. Damn, this sucks, not so much for the loss of the match, but for the loss of this opportunity. Germany will never be like this again, and it was so amazing to be part of it.

http://stuff.sebisworld.com/Fotos/Display.php?show=Argentinien for those who are interested - Hamburg Public Viewing.

 

[takao]

I still can't get over the fact that Germany did not make it. Two minutes that screwed with the once in a lifetime opportunity of watching the host nation play the final in a crowd of million other followers. My Berlin plans were almost finalized. Damn, this sucks, not so much for the loss of the match, but for the loss of this opportunity. Germany will never be like this again, and it was so amazing to be part of it.

yeah sad for the home team
but on the other side if you look at the age-average of the german team then it's obvious that this team will be strong for some years to come (compared to chez republic, france etc.)

 

[jelloshotsrule]

i thought it was a foul, and that after an initial attempt to play through it, his foot came down on the defender's foot, causing him to fall.

 

[MacsRgr8]

Yeah, because that means I'm wrong.

Actually, After going around a few football forums with people that watch more football than baseball and aussie rules rugby, a hell of a lot of people agree with me.

It is plain as day that he dived, he threw himself into the air like a queen. I wanted Zidane to score, as I already stated. so, IF I was going to be biased about this then I would have said it was a penalty.

He is a player that speaks out about his hatred of diving, then dives (regardless of it being a foul or not, he was conning the ref)

Any similaritries to that freaking Italian dive against the Aussies???

Henry's penalty "claim" was more obvious than that bloody Italian one.
Sheesh.

 

[Don't panic]

Any similaritries to that freaking Italian dive against the Aussies???
Henry's penalty "claim" was more obvious than that bloody Italian one.
Sheesh.

some sour grapes there?
you're really getting old with this. i can't stand diving or the teatrics in general, I typically root for the underdogs and i am a sucker for cinderella stories in sports (gonzaga anyone?) but what i can stand even less is the constant whining of people that can't go beyond prejudice and stereotypes, or look beyond the color of the shirts.

Neill's foul was a penalty, not a dive. he was completely off time and took down a man with a chance of scoring in the middle of the box.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8eb95Zlc7M&search=grosso%20australia <-long
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2PgG8j0gyQ&search=grosso%20australia <-short
The aussies got deservedely eliminated not because of some european conspiracy (really worked out well for the germans didn't it?) but simply because they couldn't put together a decent chance of scoring even after playing one man up for half of the game. enough of the crap please.

I like how some team must be, by definition, a 'fair' team. I used to really love australia, but the constant whining and ridiculous unsportmanship really got under my skin this time.
go and look at the statistics (http://soccernet.espn.go.com/stats/teams?league=fifa.world&year=2006&cat=fouls&cc=5901). the aussies were one of the teams with the worst foul committed/suffered ratio (91/54, in 4 games). maybe if they had gone in to score goals instead than to break legs they could have used that one man advantage to go through. /end of rant.

As for diving, in my view the worst have portuguese, dutch, french and german players

edit: i think they should introduce 'black cards' for diving, fakery and unsportingly behavior to be assigned by panel of three referees AFTER the game. three black cards (in one or more games) and you are out the next game. In some cases footage wouldn't be decisive, but the possibility of it would significantly undercut the acting

 

[Counterfit]

Wether or not it was a foul is debatable,

Considering that his ONLY FOOT ON THE GROUND was completely TAKEN OUT FROM UNDER HIM without contact with the ball. I'd also like to think the ref knows a leetle more about this than you do.

wether or not he dived is not.

You think so, but here we are...

 

[BakedBeans]

Considering that his ONLY FOOT ON THE GROUND was completely TAKEN OUT FROM UNDER HIM without contact with the ball.

You need to watch the video, because that is not what happens at all. It's funny seeing you getting all cocky over this, when it's pretty obvious you don't know much about football at all. Especially when you can't analyse a slow-mo video and tell which leg got taken out.

I'd also like to think the ref knows a leetle more about this than you do.

He knows the rules, nothing more. He doesn't know the game. The ref gets decisions wrong all the time, it is actually getting so bad that they want two refs on the field now.

i think they should introduce 'black cards' for diving, fakery and unsportingly behavior to be assigned by panel of three referees AFTER the game. three black cards (in one or more games) and you are out the next game. In some cases footage wouldn't be decisive, but the possibility of it would significantly undercut the acting

I think that is the best idea I've heard on this forum. I think that would work

 

[Jaffa Cake]

For my money, it was a foul – although to say Henry made a bit of a meal of his fall is putting it lightly.

 

[MacsRgr8]

some sour grapes there?
you're really getting old with this. i can't stand diving or the teatrics in general, I typically root for the underdogs and i am a sucker for cinderella stories in sports (gonzaga anyone?) but what i can stand even less is the constant whining of people that can't go beyond prejudice and stereotypes, or look beyond the color of the shirts.

I was referring to it because of the debate about Henry's dive. I wanted to point out that in both cases the striker made the most out of the situation, and got rewarded with a penalty.
That's all.
No sour grapes here (anymore... )

BTW... I like the idea of black cards. I think XIII came up with the idea of looking at "cheating incidents" after the game, but this is better.
Might work indeed.

 

[BakedBeans]

For my money, it was a foul

I've got no worries with that at all, it is a valid opinion and as I've said, the foul/not foul is a matter fot debate - I think it was not a foul but given because of the following

although to say Henry made a bit of a meal of his fall is putting it lightly.

This is the part that isn't debatable... it happened, that is fact. I'm glad that someone finally acknoledge what i am trying to say.

What should of happened is henry should of (and if he didn't do a ballerina he would have) stayed on his feet, stepped over the challenge and lashed the ball in the top corner, because he is quality and can do it.

BTW... I like the idea of black cards. I think XIII came up with the idea of looking at "cheating incidents" after the game, but this is better.
Might work indeed.

It has been discussed for years, but hte black card (or whatever card colour) idea is a sensible way to enforce it... that way the panel could only look at incidents that where 'black carded'

I hope it happens

 

[Jaffa Cake]

I'll say one thing about dives and playacting and all that*– it just always looks really wrong (to me at least) when a player is tripped or shoved and, as he goes down, he throws his arms up in the air – for example, as Henry did to win the penalty. It just seems to me that if you suddenly and unexpectedly get knocked off your feet your instinctive reaction is to put your arms out in front of you to break your fall, not to throw them up in the air. When I see that happen, it always looks to me as if the player is looking to make more of the challenge and attract the attention of the official by making it look more dramatic than it actually is.

Just my two-penneth worth...

 

[xsedrinam]

The drama and acting on the part of the players have come about as part of the whole inadequate and antiquated system of officiating. I hope it will change and be brought in to the 21st century.

Can anyone say why Italy will win over France on Sunday?

 

[Don't panic]

The drama and acting on the part of the players have come about as part of the whole inadequate and antiquated system of officiating. I hope it will change and be brought in to the 21st century.

Can anyone say why Italy will win over France on Sunday?

very tough call.
if its the quarterfinals france against the semifinals italy we are in for the best final in at last 20 years.

I had predicted italy at the beginning, so I won't change now, but i hadn't predicted this zizou. what a player! (of course they also have barthez, who's now overdue for one of his trademark major blunders)

Who do you think is the MVP of the tournament?
i think it's between Zidane and Cannavaro, or Buffon if it italy wins on penalties.
It's sad that none of the many talented attacking superstar left any sort of mark on the WC.

edit: i didn't see the subtlety of the why i thought it was if.
ok then: because they have a major old score to settle (euro 2000) and they want it more than the french.

 

[BakedBeans]

Can anyone say why Italy will win over France on Sunday?

Better defence, good midfielder and good front line. player for player they are better and have show that they can be an attacking force aswell as defend well.

I think whoever scores first wins.

 

[Applespider]

Gosh... I've just come *this* close to going out to Rome on Sunday to watch the game out there...

Was trying to see if a pal wanted to come too and the flight leapt up from £160 to £350 which is a little excessive for a mad, spontaneous weekend trip!

Ah well... London it is then!

 

[dcv]

Gosh... I've just come *this* close to going out to Rome on Sunday to watch the game out there...

Was trying to see if a pal wanted to come too and the flight leapt up from £160 to £350 which is a little excessive for a mad, spontaneous weekend trip!

Ah well... London it is then!

Where are you watching it then?

 

[Applespider]

Where are you watching it then?

Given Bar Italia will be impossible to get into, I'm thinking about going to Carluccio's at St Christopher Place where they've got a large screen, lots of Peroni and lots of Italians

They're not taking bookings for Sunday night - it's a turn up and see job. But I figured that if I get there a little early, I might be lucky... and if not, there are always the old, nasty standby pubs to fall back on. Fancy coming along? I'll warn you now... I'll be in my Italia vest and I'll be loud...