The Official World Cup Thread
 

Sooooooooooooo...

The World Cup is here again, whats everyones predictions?

I am really not THAT fussed about football, but I would like to see England do well.... on paper they must have the best team going.... but Brasil are gonna be good... not so sure about the Italians or French this time around... I think ze Germans will have a good run. USA could get a bit further than usual.... The Aussies are in a tough group though.

my prediction is that its Englands year..... :D

It’s Africa’s turn
 

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My prediction is that Norway won’t win. :(

Seriously, I would really like to see one of the African nations win. I think some of them are playing brilliant football, and they’re underrated. We’ll definitely see some of them in the semifinals. I predict we’re in for some surprising upsets.

yeh... I thnk alot of the African Nations are gonna be good in the next few World Cups.

Here is what William Hills have to say! http://www.willhill.com/iibs/en/buil...hoice=WC988239

I think there are gonna be so big upsets too... probiably England! Its so annoying, they can go out against a team like Argentian and look like world beaters.... put them up against Northern Ireland and they look like panel beaters!

Joking aside... you wouldnt believe how seriously people are taking it here.... people have England flags on their cars, on their houses, dogs have England coats.. its very odd

Here is a short vid of Beckham's goal yesterday against Paraguay.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq9scxc-xrE

I hear McDonalds will knock 'em dead! Literally!

http://www.newlaunches.com/archives/...ggest_ever.php

Well, Poland lost, so i'm a bit disconcerted.....;) Tomorrow should be a good round of matches though.

Looked like on own goal to my eyes (poor Paruguay), but good for Beckham, he put it up high enough to be virutally undefendable.

What site do you all use in orde to follow the World Cup. I'm in the US so my options are slighly limited. Any sites with lots of videos you all could lead me to?

Animated videos of every goal!
 

Well, here they’re showing most of the matches so far on television. But I’ve also checked out http://www.dagbladet.no/vm2006/vr/, which has a really nifty feature. It’s Norway’s second most popular tabloid. Anyways, you can watch animated replays of all the goals from every single game -- choosing the tempo and angle of view.

Since I’m sure they didn’t make those themselves, those videos should be available elsewhere. Did you check out the official World Cup pages? (I mean, more offical than this one? ;) )

Does it get more official than this thread :).

I usually stay away from official pages, it always seems like you're reading propoganda, you never get of the interesting, inside sorts of stories ( formula1.com vs. itv.com for example). So I really want a secondary page. I'll try the one you've got listed there, though I hope they have an English version...need to brush up on my...uh, nordic? I feel like a dope. What language would it be in? What's the native language of Norway?

Edit: Just check the page, that's stinking awesome. 3D animations of all the goals, and you can see it from any angle!

nope!

for anyone that wants to keep score............. http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/21903

Yeah! I thought it awesome, too. Since the matches are listed in a table at the very top of the page, with national flags and English abbreviations, you can’t go wrong. And the animations are beautiful!!

The VR is a lot clearer than the real video Solipsism linked to.

Photek, I read the William Hills’ list of bookmakers’ odds. I duly noted that Cote d’Ivoire is the first African team listed -- at 101:1 odds. It would be fun to win a bet like that!

So far, ESPN to watch and record and Wikipedia to look at stats.

PS: I'm seems like the US is becoming more soccer friendly.

Soccer?! Go wash your mouth with soap and water! :D

It’s called football -- as opposed to that misnamed sport where they run around carrying the ball, dressed up in armour and helmets.

:D

It's interesting that the American football kicker, despite being a integral part of the game, is considered a bit of a joke. While teh rest of world looks upon a good kicker as a celebrity to be admired.

BTW: What country is everyone from? I'm from USA, Florida.

USA Maryland...I think Brazil is the class of the field...they are so deep and talented. I have England finishing second to Brazil. I don't have Italy coming out of the group, they just don't seem to be playing well, and lots of distractions for them.

Sure, the American bootball kicker does an admirable job -- but during how much of the game is the ball kicked, rather than carried? Hence my insistence that the sport is misnamed.

Jeb Bush country? I’m from Røyksopp country.

I'm from Provo, Utah, USA. Though I hope to change that as soon as I can.

Oddly, I find myself actually routing for the US this year. I'm hoping that if we get into the qurters or semi's (and heaven knows, it would be great if we won), that perhaps the sport will become more popular here. If only I could get my friends interested in a real racing series as well, I mean honestly, NASCAR, that's racing? :).

Oh, and I usually use Futball when referring to football/soccer, the spanish word for it. The reason being that I can't stand to call it soccer (makes no sense to me) but I don't want to confuse people around here by saying football. Most of my friends understand what I mean when I say futball.

It's a funky abbreviation for Association Football.

The √s are ahead 3 - 0 already!

I predict that next year when this topic comes up, I won't have to look up "world cup" to learn that this refers to soccer/football.

cwoor!

the 'socceroos' beat Japan 3-1!

Double musicality by "Little Mozart"!
 

Yup, they pulled it together, but only after receiving a jarring Japanese wake-up call.

Well-deserved victory by the Czechs. Mastery by Tomáš Rosický! It’s no wonder they call him “Little Mozart” -- the US team isn’t the first to learn that the hard way.

Three exciting games tomorrow; most exciting of all, of course: Brazil. :cool: Nuthin’ more beautiful than when they’re playing their best. Just so much more artistry than any other team out there – although I thought Argentina looked really sharp in their first match. By the way, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Koreans advance from the opening round.

Will we see the first African upset starting within the hour, with Ghana taking Italy’s scalp? That would be something!

This would befit the funny video thread, but I think it's more aptly placed here:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=vaFm47lsL2g

The best moment in that whole thing was when the streaker was running up to try and kick off the ball and one of the players casually pulled it out of his way...

Brazil vs. Croatia is about to start. Brazil is gonna whoop some Mediterranean ass!

dont get me wrong... Brasil are great... but they have gotta slip up some time, Croatia are a pretty good team...

It made me laugh that France could only manage a draw!

It's amazing the France are considered arrogant by Americans when the French can't seem to win anything to envoke this arrogant persona. Now, Americans being arrogant, I can see. After all, Americans have the best army, the best movies, the best celebrities, the best looking women*, the best inventions, the best racism, & the best chili.


* Actually, that honour goes to Brazil, but I took away "hotness" points for rampant HIV.

at the risk of starting a thread thats gonna get locked...



Photek edited at risk of causing offence!

went shopping with the GF at the weekend, nearly bought her a green and yellow g-string that said 'no brazillians' on the front! :D

I wasn't being serious. To say one's country has the best of something could only ever be true within a certain POV.

back to the subject at hand... Brazil 1 Croatia 0


Ronaldo looks unfit.... same deal as it was 4 years ago. :(

Well, Americans have perhaps the most beautiful Constitution in the world. Honestly!

Best army? Try telling the Gurkhas and the SAS – besides, the sign of a good army is that it stops when the enemy is beaten. I think we need a new brigade of American Marines strictly reserved for politicians’ sons...
Best movies? Well, you have Powaqqatsi directed by Godfrey Reggio – brilliant! And there has been a great wave of independent films for some time. Beautiful women? Certainly plenty enough to require a superhuman effort to concentrate on my final exams during the heat waves at UC Davis. But then again, I’m distracted no matter what country I visit. :cool:
Despite Photek’s request, I’ll abstain from commenting the latter three...

I was impressed with Croatia's defense. I didn't expect them to fair that well against Brazil.

I forgot to add: the best president. :-D

Sunil Gulati? I presume you’re talking about the President of the US Soccer Federation, no?

Cut it folks, we all know that Sepp Blatter is the best president in the world! (Honestly, if you want to be political start a new thread that the mods can shut down because I really like this FIFA one, okay?)

damn right.... how come ALL my threads take a political turn?

lets keep it football.:D

Do, please. :)

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I just heard that Spain trounced the Ukraine 4-zip. Shucks, I missed that because of a project deadline.

But I must confess that I was expecting more Samba from the Brazilians. I think the Croats looked almost as good out there. Well, perhaps Brazil will really heat up after the first game or two.

Germany this evening...

IT'S GAME ON NOW!!!

Saudi Arabia just scored a tying point against Tunisia with 15 minutes left.


PS: Anything political I said was purely in jest.

DAMN! It looks like Saudi Arabia will win. Sami El-Jabar just made a 2nd goal for Saudi Arabia.

Update: Tunisia gets a second goal in the final minutes. tying up the score.

The World Cup came into existence when football was not to be included in the 1932 Olympics. This was mainly due to it's location, as it was held in Los Angeles, CA, USA that year and wasn't a very popular sport among Americans. Subsequently, the World Cup was started and held in Uruguay in 1930. Only 13 teams from 3 continents joined: 7 from S. America, 4 from Europe, and 2 from N. America. The first World Cup was held in 1930 and won by Uraguay.

well..... ze Germans won.....

football is not a 'gentlemanly' these days as it once was....

http://not.raunvis.hi.is/~pallja/balls.jpg

Vinnie Jones (now a b-grade movie star in Snatch, Lock stock ect) going for a different type of tackle a few years back. :D

Another great game. I'm trying hard to refrain from joking about the German victory over Poland.

Swordfish, X-Men 3 and Gone in 60 Seconds were all pretty popular. I'd think Vinnie is pretty well known, at least by face, by many Americans.

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That goal was brilliant! Hate to admit it, but it was a well-deserved victory.

Enjoy the teamwork!
 

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Check out the great teamwork on this VR video from Spain–Ukraine!

Be patient; it takes a long time to load. Choose 1/8 tempo in the menu on the right to slow down the action. This is truly fantastic football!! :)

By the way, on this website you can watch VR replays of every single goal in the World Cup. In addition to tempo, you can select the camera angle. Try the bottom two options, which mean "Follow the ball" and "Rotating camera". Enjoy!

Trinidad & Tabago vs. England just started.

if you are fan of soccer yet (referring to Carlos), this game may be interesting enough to peak your interest.


edit: This was a great game. England won 2 - 0, but T&T should be proud to have played so well their first time qualifying for the World Cup. Though no one scored in the first half, T&T owned it. Very impressive.

I wish I hadn't bothered... I should have caught the last 10 mins and forgotten about the other 80 that went before it!

If England continue to play the way they are doing, they have no right to progress any further.... they look like part timers.

I was watching the match with a friend – he fell asleep. So did an English translator I know whom I talked to after the game.

Must confess there were times when I really thought Trinidad & Tobago would emerge the victor. It would have been well deserved.

Saturday is the US vs. Italy. I have to say, I think Italy is gonna whomp the US, but I'll keep my hopes up.

The next World Champions !!!
 

The Argentinians are the ones dancing samba this year. 6-0 is total humiliation for Milosevic & co. The results are overwhelming -- but even more impressive are the artistry and teamwork. :D

I wager we are watching the next World Champions. :)

0 to 0 ??? I thought Mexico was going to route Angola.

Oh well. I watched the game in the heart of the Mission district in San Francisco...the largest Mexican concentration in SF. 3 Tecate's later, still a nice day. 82 degrees, no clouds in the sky.

Hooorah World Cup!!!

its funny how the World Cup is handled differently in different countries... for example in England there is a trend where the 'academically challenged' stick England Flags to their cars, houses, kids ect... after Englands win the other night I was awoken at 2am by a bunch of idiots (men and women) chanting England songs... down my street...

dont get me wrong... I would like England to win... but to people really need to go sticking flags to their cars? or chanting into the night sky like a deranged baboon?

Photek, the US gets the exact same thing with American football. Including two-tone face painting and jersey apparel of their favorite team and player. The face painting is usually for the stadium attendees, but the jerseys are often worn to work over one's regular work attire.

thank god its not just the Brits then!

I am off out to buy 4 flags for my car, a flag for the roof of my house, some red and white face paint, a few England tatoo's for my arms and and England t-shirt that makes reference to the 1966 world cup win. Whilst I am at it I will buy some 'World cup sausages' and an England beer glass for my limited edition England beer. Afterwards I might have a rebranded Mars bar... now called 'believe' for pudding and then go to sleep in my England bed with matching England duvet set.

glad I could clear that up :D

I always assumed this was quite common around the world. I pictured the chinese with ping-pong paddle shaped flags on bikes and rickshaws, Japanese with bobbled heads of sumo wrestlers on their dashboards, and the Russians with foam hats shaped as chess pieces with their favorite player on it, the Scandinavians with lifesize inflatables of their favorite strongest man, etc.

I am sure it is... but I have never seen it like this before in the UK.... never. Perhaps, as always, the UK is a few years behing the rest of the world! :D

I'm curious about general concesus of Beckham's move from Manchester United to Real Madrid. As a American who enjoys soccer and who loves the city of Madrid, I thought it great. What this seen as a disloyal move?

nahhhh... he fell out with Fergeson... Beckham is playing for one of the best teams in the world... good luck to him... I hope he can pass on some wisdom to the rest of the England squad....


BUT......

How on the edge of my seat and I watching the USA v Italy? 1-1 at half time. two players sent off.... USA's worst defeat was against Italy (7-1) It looks like they could win today! That would be sweet!

This USA vs. Italy game is so good. I was hoping USA would maintain that +1 player advantage. The Ghana defeat over the √ Repbublic makes me think the US may actually have a chance to make it Round of 16.


DAMN! I thought McBride had that goal in the 62nd minute.

Regarding 65th minute goal: SON OF A BITCH! But the ref's call was valid.

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Congratulations! Whatever the result, the USA-Italy match is proving that American football has come of age. :) Beautiful aggressive play, excellent teamwork, and they’re working their asses off out there.

Crossing my fingers, hoping for many more fine games from them in this World Cup.

* * *

Tied game – but the moral victory definitely belongs to the USA. What a match!!

The USA did great job in the second half with only 9 players to the Italy's 10.

USA tied ITA beat GHA beat CZE beat USA

Had we that 10th player, I'm certain that we would have beat Italy. Note: No World Cup team hass ever scored a goal when left with 9 players.

yeh... USA played very well, Italy didn't look good and that elbow to the face is gonna cost him a 3 match ban.. damn right too... when you get payed as much as they do you should be able to rely on skill... not violance.

So USA and Italy are still able to qualify if they win their remaning matches...

cool!


is everyone keeping track with this? http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/21903

I thought so too, but the Wikipedia page (the most fervently updated wikipage right now) shows USA not in the Round of 16. Is there still chance?

Yep still a chance. We need Italy to beat the Chechs and we need to beat Ghana. If that happens then we Italy finishes with 7 points to win the group. We have four to finish 2nd, and both the Chechs and Ghana finish with 3 points.

the Italians should beat the Czechs, but Ghana are looking really good... and the USA are gonna be missing some key players.... fingers crossed!

phew....... what a day.... Aussies played amazingly... Korea did well....

if you want to predict what could happen......

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/shared/...6/default.stm#

The Tunisians are playing like Gods today against Spain. This is only their 4x time making it into the World Cup. Spain has had the possession over twice as much as Tunisia, yet Tunisia has already scored. In the 8th minute of play, nonetheless.

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That goal by Jaouhar Mnari was a beauty! Ain’t nothing’ like an early goal by the underdog to make the game come alive. This is going to be an intense fight to the finish. Enjoying every minute of it!

I just thought it would be worth mentioning at this point... that I know England have little hope of winning... I know they are second fav to win... but when you look at the way Argentian are playing... or Brasil.... or even the Aussies! It makes England look pretty amateur.

Just so you all know I have this in perspective! :D

Unimpressive Brazil
 

So far Brazil has been thoroughly unimpressive – proving that a collection of the world’s finest football players does not make a world class team. They’re not hungry, and they look almost static when they don’t have possession. Both the Australians and the Americans have worked far, far harder.

But this time around I think the world champion will be Argentina.

do you mean hungry or Hungry!

I think the Argentineans will win it, in the next round England may come up against Germany... a tough opposition, made even tougher as its their world cup in their own back yard!

O' hell... perhaps I shouldnt be so defeative! Come on England!.. now where are my flags?!

I was really rooting for Tunisia being the underdogs, and all. What a fun game though.

Slightly off topic, but I thought I'd mention it. For anyone here who likes the Black Eyed Peas (or just Hip Hop in general), check out there video for "Pump it". There's a CG scene were the lead man beats a bunch of people up with a soccer ball...rather entertaining :).

I just did a crop of that scene Zalister is referring and uploaded it to YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tj4RFbCgD8

you mean 'pop' music surely! BEP is to HipHop what Madonna is to Rock Music... ie unrelated!

Either way.... 55mins to the England Kick off! I am readying myself for an 'extra medium' game full of no real action, no surprises and England probiably loosing 2-1 after leading for 89 mins. :D

1) The Blackeyed Peas do rap in their songs, but perhaps Hip Pop is more correct.

2) The Brits will be victorious against the Swiss.

3) What do they call Swiss Cheese in Switzerland?

4) What do they call American cheese in the rest of the world?

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What masterful precision by Cole !!!

Looks like I’m going to have to eat my words. :D I called an English friend before the match to offer my condolances in advance on his team’s defeat to Sweden.

Photek, you almost had it right with the Swiss bringing it to a tie in the 90th minute. I guess that means that they will be playing again.

it will do!..... BUT England are great at conceding goals in the last few mins of a game!........... They dont look any where near world class...! And Owen is gonna be out for a long time.... shame... he has only played 6 mins of football this year due to injuries... and he was the worlds most prolific scorer last season!

I would love to think they called it English cheese...

As far as I am aware... I have never eaten American Cheese! I am not aware of seeing it in any supermarkets....Perhaps it doesnt travel well!

You probably have. The rest of the world refers to it as processed cheese. And it was invented by the Swiss.

From Wikipage on Swiss Cheese:

Emmental ... cheese is a Swiss cheese. It is sometimes known as Swiss cheese in the USA[, Canada, and Australia, but not the UK], although Swiss cheese does not always imply Emmental.

Michael Owen has amazing accelleration; I will miss him in the rest of the England matches.

Umm, what do they call roulette in Russia?

I usually like to just call them good, but people like to genre things so much...

Back to futbol! Well, I finnaly have access to a couple of the games tomorrow. Look forward to watching argentina play, oughta be nice.

Just as a random world cup related thing:

For anyone not in the UK, most cars in the UK are going around with flags attached to the windows, bumpers, etc. That is the joke of this email I got :)

An Art Project for Elevators...
 

That is brilliant!
When I was studying Art at UC Davis, someone formulated "Rules for behaviour in the elevator" – and posted it in every single one on campus.

It was an art project. And the "rules" were merely a description of the bizarre behaviour of people when they are forced to stand far closer to each other than their "personal territory" dictates.
So people you standing there, reading the rules posted on the elevator doors – rules that described your actual behaviour to a T. And you knew the person beside you was doing exactly the same thing, both you becoming uncomfortably aware of what you were doing.

A hilarious art project!

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If the USA is going to win against Ghana (halftime now), they’re going to have to find a better rhythm in their game. That Dempsey goal and its preparation was elegant – but time and again the Americans have lost tempo in their attack. They’re working hard, so maybe their guts will pay off during the 2nd half. May the best team win this one!

Come on USA! This is killing me, and I don't even have access to a TV. I've just been watching it on ESPN's play by play service...

gahhhhhh... USA out.. Aussies too...

looks like its...

Germany V Sweden
Argentian v Mexico
Italy V (Japan or Croatia)
England v Ecuador
Portugal v Netherlands
Brasil v Ghana
Spain v (France or Swiss or Korea)

have I got that right?!?

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Anyone know the bookmaker’s odds for betting on a Japanese victory over Brazil? It’s been 14 minutes and the Samba dancing footballers have yet to score.

Hold on, the Aussies aren’t out, are they? They’re down 1–0 against Croatia, but I have some confidence they might pull through.

Photek, don't forget Australia just yet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Footbal...nockout_stages

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YES!!! 1–0 for the Japanese against Brazil.
I should have mortgaged my house and bet my life savings.

...and 1–1 to the Aussies! What did I tell ya?!

I wouldn't bet the farm just yet. Brazil beat Australia and Croatia. Australia beat Japan. Croatia only tied Japan. With 50 minutes left, I really don't think Japan is going to hold onto the lead.

nahhhhhhhhh... 1-1... second half has just started..... COME ON JAPAN!!!!

(ps sorry to the whole Australian nation, I am getting a bit ahead of myself!)

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Time for some Aussie joie de vivre. Click the video button in the lower left. By the time you’ve watched it and grinned ear to ear, they will hopefully once again have evened the score against Croatia.

Regarding the 2nd goal on Australia: That ball had so much English on it (it's what we Americans call "spin", though usually in relation to billiards) that I don't think really see it as the goalie's fault. I'm sure, he's still gonna get berated for it though.

whoooo.. Aussie's are through... cool!

shame about Japan.... looks like Ronaldo is starting to find his form though!

never heard that before... will try to get it into conversation tomorrow! :D

I've decided America is cursed. I mean, come on, maybe we were supposed to have a hard time getting out of our group, but couldn't we have left with a little grace? Did we even score any goals? Shame, just shame.

I think we must be cursed, I think I'm going to just start telling people that it's our punishment for pushing football out of the 1930 olympics. And I'll tell everyone I see that if they don't want to continue being the laughing stock of FIFA they'd better do something to make up for it! ...don't know what it will be yet. Any ideas what America should do to atone?

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France–Togo: Now this is a fine football match! They’re proving just as hungry as the Americans were during that fine first match. Not sure America has anything to atone for – at least not when it comes to football, that is.

Apparently France needs to win by 2 goals to ensure continued play. I would wager that they score at least three. But Togo is already proving to be poisonous in their counter-attacks.

My, this is entertaining football!
...Ah, pity it was offside before that goal!

I don't think America played too badly. In the first couple games I was somewhat impressed. As for the ousting from the 1932 Olympics, I think it's a "blessing in disguise" as the World Cup was formed in 1930 as a yearly event.

As an aside, I'm rooting for Ghana. Their first time placing and they took second place of E Group. That isn't so shabby.

USA v Ghana.... http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...06/5061972.stm