2006 World Cup Thread

[the_big_E]

Someone had to start one eventually...

with all the teams having to name their teams today, there have been some surprises.

Argentina has left off Javier Zanetti, Walter Samuel, and Juan Sebastian Veron stalwarts for Inter and Argentina in the past, yet they call up Burdisso who played sparingly this year, coincidentally, at Inter.

Italy for some reason beyond me decides to give Iaquinta a spot, Udinese has stunk this season, he doesnt deserve a spot. They didnt give one spot to any Italian playing outside of Serie A, players such as Miccoli, Di Vaio, and Enzo Maresca all of whom had pretty good seasons. I think there is too much loyalty there, and I think it will cost Italy dearly.

Holland left off Stam and Seedorf.

I guess this is the changing of the guard if you will, but some of these guys should be at the world cup, dont know what some managers are thinking!

 

[scouser1]

Stam and Seedorf should be left off they arent what they used to be years back, as for the Italians its gonna be Luca Toni and Del Piero up front so it doesnt matter who is on the bench

 

[Von Wigglestaff]

Materazzi is a pantload. He gets a spot while a wizard like Tavano stays home. Go figure?!

Klinsmann and Van Basten were great players, but they appear to be cancelling each other out as coaches. The German is too dislocated from his team and makes too many tactical errors. The Dutchman has allowed his ego to cloud his judgement. When the opposition begins to press that's when you need a player like Seedorf.

Without their star strikers Gerrard and Lampard must learn to co-exist is England is to reach the Final. If there's even a hint of another Northern Ireland, Sven must be decisive - Lampard sits on the bench.

La Liga suits Marseca's game but his inclusion would have meant a lesser role for De Rossi. The Roman is younger and stronger than the ex-Juventino; he plays his best game when going up against the opposition's star midfileder. De Rossi vs Ronaldinho will be a battle for the ages.

How can you leave a workhorse like Javier Zanetti off the team?!

 

[abear]

Iaquinta should not be....

as i have an italian background i love this time of the year, the world cup, i wait for it every 4 years , well its actually 2 because of the european cup. anyways what i wanted to say is that i have to agree the_big_E the fact that Iaquinta made team even when Udinese did nothing all year. however i am glad to see that inzaghi made the team and this whole scandal thats going on with juve is ridiculus. anyways thats my 2 cents

forza italia

 

[the_big_E]

and if I am not mistaken, the majority of Iaquinta's goals this season have been from the PK spot.

Perhaps Rocchi should have gotten a closer look, that's probably my Lazio bias, but he scored a lot of nice goals and is above average in most aspects for a striker.

Seedorf had a good season with Milan, so I was surprised by his omission. But Holland also omitted Huntelaar from Ajax, who had a combined total of something like 50 goals this year! I guess tough decisions are bound to be made, and every selection wont please everyone.

What about Spain, only taking 3 strikers!

 

[abear]

this is going to be

an interesting world cup.

seedorf had a good season with AC, maybe thats why holland hasnt done much with regards to international play the past couple of tournaments. and spain, that doesnt suprise me anyways, they are known to choke when the games they play start to really count.

 

[the_big_E]

Even though we have 2 threads going here, in one of the threads we should have a pool.

Pick all the Group winners...what the hell I'll do it now.

Group A
Germany
Ecuador

Group B
England
Sweden

Group C
Argentina
Serbia & Montenegro

Group D
Portugal
Mexico

Group E
Czech Republic
USA

Group F
Brazil
Croatia

Group G
France
South Korea

Group H
Ukraine
Spain

flame on these picks all you want because I neglected Netherlands/Italy. There are always upsets in these tournaments so thats why some of these picks may seem wacky.

In case you forget who is in what group for the sake of this attempted pool:
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/worldcup/fixtures?cc=3436

 

[Vov76]

It will be difficult to predict but here's my choice

Group A
Germany
Poland

Group B
England
Sweden

Group C
Netherlands
Serbia & Montenegro

Group D
Portugal
Mexico

Group E
Italy
Czech Republic

Group F
Brazil
Croatia

Group G
France
Switzerland

Group H
Spain
Ukraine

 

[the_big_E]

World Cup Schedule

http://soccer.sportsnet.tsn.ca/tv/

 

[The_Ladies_Man]

My Picks ...

GROUP A
Germany
Poland

GROUP B
England
Sweden

GROUP C
Argentina
Serbia & Montenegro

GROUP D
Portugal
Mexico

GROUP E
Italy
Czech Republic

GROUP F
Brazil
Australia

GROUP G
France
Switzerland

GROUP H
Ukraine
Spain

 

[Mr. Lucky]

can someone post the dates and times

 

[the_big_E]

I did, click on the first page of this thread and the link is at the bottom!

 

[Oil Please]

Go England GO !

 

[PDL007]

Go Ukraine Go!

 

[luckyjackson]

here ya go fellas...dates, times, local television listings....just 8 more days.

http://www.soccertv.com/wc-can.cfm

 

[scouser1]

England 6 Jamaica 0!! with a Peter Crouch hat trick, oh ye doubters of Peter Crouch where are thou now

 

[the_big_E]

dude, it was Jamaica!

 

[topcat]

dude, it was Jamaica!

yeah I agree. Not to get England,s hopes up Scouser but it was than less
a formidable opponent.

 

[scouser1]

but thats just the thing homeys, you are suppose to beat the crap out of teams that are bad in that style, I am thinking this Rooney thing isnt that much to worry about in the first couple of games, who is gonna mark him he is 6'7!!! all it takes a cross from Lampard or Gerrard and he will be knocking them in

 

[2SOON JR]

i wonder whats gonna happen to Italy