The only World Cup 2006 thread you need

[Gaymo, the Hobbit]

Re: MandyGNR:


yes, germany has really good goal keepers though. but right now they've not even decided yet who's gonna be in the goal in the world cup. either oliver kahn (the one from 2002) or jens lehmann (arsenal). and that's a huge deal here...

[Danny Top Hat]

Jens Lehmann has earned his place this season for sure.  While every other Arsenal player has been inconsistant, Lehmann has always played well.  Plus, Kahn is like 50, so it's clearly Lehmann's turn.

[Evolution]

I'm serious about that name changing jazz. Your boys won't win shit. It's like Henman in tennis, can't get past quarter finals at best 

[Gaymo, the Hobbit]

Jens Lehmann has earned his place this season for sure.  While every other Arsenal player has been inconsistant, Lehmann has always played well.  Plus, Kahn is like 50, so it's clearly Lehmann's turn.

believe, if lehmann is going to be goalie for the WC, all hell will break loose in germany. that'll be fun

[Gizmo]

Germeny are awfull they just got smashed up by the ltalians,
and they ant that good!

Any way we will soon find out soon who be the best!!

I think England need to drop one the big 2, gerrard or lampard, and have Carrick sitting in that holding role, I just think it give us more balance!



My tip for star player Peter Crouch.............mark my words!

 

[Mr. Dick Purple]

We will see About that I think England will meet Argentina in the 1/4 Finals and I predict an England Victory

I dont think thats gonna happen after all last tournament England defeated Argentina, it's payback time 

that's would be a nice way to conmemorate the 20th anniversary of Maradona's ''Goal of all times'' and ''The hand of god''. Same teams, same instance, same results, but 20 years after.

I dont think people should celebrate the hand of God, after all it was cheating 

[2NaFish]

We will see About that I think England will meet Argentina in the 1/4 Finals and I predict an England Victory

I dont think thats gonna happen after all last tournament England defeated Argentina, it's payback time

that's would be a nice way to conmemorate the 20th anniversary of Maradona's ''Goal of all times'' and ''The hand of god''. Same teams, same instance, same results, but 20 years after.

I dont think people should celebrate the hand of God, after all it was cheating

i seem to remember england fans celebrating a certain goal in 1966 that clearly never crossed the line.

[Mr. Dick Purple]

i seem to remember england fans celebrating a certain goal in 1966 that clearly never crossed the line.

Cheating too, shouldnt be celebrate that takes out all the merit that the players left in the field, thats horrible!! is like saying I can do whatever I want cause nobody saw me and you (the other team) sucked. 

[2NaFish]

i'm sorry if i seem rude (maybe my complete lack of sleep in the last 24 hours plays a part) but i can't really understand what you've just written.

Anyway, being scottish, i think the hand of god is hilarious. Second greatest world cup goal ever. maradona's other in the same game being the best.

[Mr. Dick Purple]

I mean thats cheating too and shouldnt be a celebration

[CAFC Nick]

i'm sorry if i seem rude (maybe my complete lack of sleep in the last 24 hours plays a part) but i can't really understand what you've just written.

Anyway, being scottish, i think the hand of god is hilarious. Second greatest world cup goal ever. maradona's other in the same game being the best.

So who did Scotland draw in the World Cup? 

[Izzy]

Winning international football matches is tough these days. Or is it?

I?m sure it was Sir Bobby Robson who first told us that ?there are no easy matches in international football any more?. This would have been after an abject display by England against the Soviet Union at Wembley in June 1984 when he was manager.

Or maybe it was Graham Taylor who said it after England lost 2-0 to the US in 1993.

Whoever it was, their claim seems to be truer now than it ever was.

Modern coaching techniques have helped nations much weaker than the US or Russia to find ways of defending effectively against better teams for 90 minutes. Instead of being thrashed off the pitch, these minnows (think Lichtenstein, Luxembourg etc) can now doggedly resist the might of heavyweight opposition and go home ?over the moon? with a narrow defeat. Occasionally they can sneak the odd draw.

Recent examples of this phenomenon in the European qualifiers for this World Cup include Azerbaijan losing 1-0 to England; the Faroe Islands losing 2-0 to France and Malta holding Croatia to a draw. In years past, all three matches would have ended in a severe drubbing for the underdog.

So Bobby (or Graham) was right. There are no easy matches in international football these days.

Wrong.

So wrong.

Pull the other one
This lame excuse has been trotted out by England managers whenever their team produces a poor performance and is now being increasingly adopted around Europe by both coaches and players. Here?s a recent comment by Serbia & Montenegro striker Savo Milosevic: "In a World Cup there are a lot of things that influence what happens. There are no easy matches." Yeah, right.

We?ll take a look at the statistics in a moment but first let?s decide what constitutes an ?easy? match in international football.

If a World Cup qualifier ends 3-0 that?s usually quite a big margin these days (I?m sure Bobby, Graham and Savo would agree), so 4-0 would be a sound beating and 5-0 a damn good tonking. Thus by any reckoning a match in which a team scores at least six goals and concedes none or perhaps the odd one must qualify as a thrashing, which is otherwise known as an easy game.

If there were no easy matches in international football these days we should expect that no match would end with one team bagging at least six goals. So, how many qualifiers for this World Cup do you think involved one team scoring at least six times? None? A couple? Seven or eight perhaps? Could it be as high as ten?

The correct is answer is 51.

Easy matches everywhere
As there were 847 World Cup qualifiers that works out as an average of one easy match per 16.6 games. If a team was in a group of six in the qualifiers it will have played 10 matches - five home, five away. That would give it a 60% chance (10 divided by 16.6, as a percentage) of playing in one easy match, though it could have been on the wrong end of the scoreline.

The score in the easiest match during World Cup 2006 qualifying was 13-0, perpetrated by Bermuda on Montserrat (John Nusum and Damon Ming both got a hat-trick), with the Maldives? 12-0 thrashing of Mongolia a close second. In the Oceania zone there was an easy match once in every four games.

Now that?s all very well for matches in far-flung countries but surely European fixtures must be a lot closer?

Well, it turns out that there are easy games a-plenty in Europe too.

Europe has it easier than Africa or S America
Thirteen European qualifying matches ended with one team scoring at least six goals, including Poland?s 8-0 demolition of Azerbaijan (that?s the same team England beat 1-0) and Portugal?s 7-1 annihilation of Russia.

There were more easy matches in European qualifiers than there were in the African zone (five) and in the South American zone (none). The easy match ratio for Europe (one easy match per 21.7 games) is also lower than for Africa (one per 38 games).

So when Sven or another European coach whose team plays poorly in June 2006 suggests that there are no easy matches in international football, do rant and rave as much as you like at the TV screen. You?re right, they?re wrong.

[Sweet s]

i seem to remember england fans celebrating a certain goal in 1966 that clearly never crossed the line.

#
.?

They may have Celbrated a Goal that wasn't but it didn't make a difference to the result England won 4-2

[Danny Top Hat]

Izzy, since when did it matter how many you win by?  It's fun to thrash teams but what is important is consistency, and England had that in qualifying.  I don't think they deserve any criticism yet - let's see how the World Cup pans out and then have another look at things.

[Graciela]

05) Juan Roman Riquelme (Villarreal / Spain)

You are from Argentina. Riquelme plays for Argentina, not for Spain 

[Izzy]

Izzy, since when did it matter how many you win by?? It's fun to thrash teams but what is important is consistency, and England had that in qualifying.? I don't think they deserve any criticism yet - let's see how the World Cup pans out and then have another look at things.

......

the point was that there IS such a thing as an 'easy' game and atleast 1 in 10 games finishes 6-0 or more, i.e is a total joke of a game

That wasn't a post about England - but i suppose they are an easy team for other nations to beat, so i can see how u linked the two

[Jim]

An easy team to beat? Certainly not.

Our problem is that we can't kill off a game, not that we just roll over.

[Carlos_f_Rose]

05) Juan Roman Riquelme (Villarreal / Spain)

You are from Argentina. Riquelme plays for Argentina, not for Spain?

He is talking about the Spanish Football team Villareal, aka (also known as) Yellow Submarine, Riquelme plays there and also a Bolivian football player... cheers

[Graciela]

01) Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United / Portugal)
02) Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona / Argentina)
03) Kak? (AC Milan / Brazil)
04) Joaquim (Real Betis / Spain)
05) Juan Roman Riquelme (Villarreal / Spain)

He is listing players, clubs and national teams. I'm from Spain so I know where Villareal is... cheers...



Anyway, it's obviously just a mistake?

[Sweet s]

Izzy, since when did it matter how many you win by?? It's fun to thrash teams but what is important is consistency, and England had that in qualifying.? I don't think they deserve any criticism yet - let's see how the World Cup pans out and then have another look at things.

I agree with that ,I've said loads of times I  don't care how England win the world cup as long as they win and they stand as goo a chance as every other country going into the competition