Anyone wanna give me odds on Australia beating Brazil? I'm curious as to how much those odds will change after Brazil v Croatia tonight.

Man I really wanna stay up and watch France tonight also, should be an interesting game against Switzerland.

I'm on study leave for A levels, and I only work on Saturdays Which means I missed England's first game But the rest of them are on Thursdays

As for the recent matches...disappointed about Ghana. For most of the first half I had a sneaking suspicion they'd manage a win, and up until the second goal I was hoping for a draw. Not because I particularly hate the Italians, I just thought Ghana were playing good football. I still think Essien is a filthy player, even though he probably had the best game of all the Ghanians. Kuffour better be counting his lucky stars that Iaquinta was already off-side, although there's no way tackling like that should go unpunished, whether or not play was stopped.

USA got absolutely tonked. I didn't expect them to do well in their group anyway, and I'll be surprised if they manage a win at all (sorry JG). Arsenal have got the bargain of the year with Rosicky (only £7m).

Looks like France are off to a good start against the Swiss.

the swiss need to win.

Seriously, I am still slightly miffed at the thought that he nearly went free on the tackle on Didi Hamann

Not to mention Ben-Haim

Half time, 0-0. Kind of disappointing, really. I was expecting something more out of the players. And what was with that awkwardness surrounding Henry being off the pitch? Get yourselves sorted out, lads

So, you've seen one bad game and are now in a position to judge that the coach needs to go? Sure, the US played like crap, but that happens, even to the best coaches in any sport. Arena's track record over the last 8 years can.t be thrown out. He's the best, and most successful coach the US has ever had.

As to calling plyer out, sometimes that's what it takes. Yeah, it's the last thing to do, but chances are anything that's been done in house thus far hasn't worked to motivated said players.

*sigh* Full time, 0-0.

Maybe I should make that *sigh* a *yawn*...

Brazil 1 - 0 Croatia.

Beautiful strike from Kaka, but not really much to get excited about from Brazil. Ronaldo shouldn't be on the team if he's going to play so lethargically, although he did come close with one attempt. I'd rather have seen Robinho on for longer, personally.

No kidding. One of the post game commentators said that Ronaldo was running fastest when he ran off the field to be subbed off.

He's put a little pork on since last i saw him too.

Just read in the paper that France hasnt scored a goal since Petit's sealer in the 98 final. That's pretty amazing considering they've got arguably the best striker in the world in Henry.

They don't give him the backup he needs. Nobody quick like Pires or Llungberg to play off. Zidane's getting slower with age much like Luis Figo so he can't always take that half yard like he used to which gave him the space to put in perfect passes.

Hopefully as the games get bigger they'll step up.

Yeah. Also, they didn't play Trezeguet at all, which was odd.

Today, I decided to try and watch a bit of the World Cup action, seeing how big a deal it is across the rest of the world. In particular, I watched the Brazil/Croatia game. Though I can't comment meaningfully on strategy and how well the teams played, I found it more interesting than any soccer event over here. In America, we just don't care for the sport. The enthusiasm though from the crowd at the World Cup game was something, they really get into it. I'm going to try to watch more games to see if I can actually get into the sport for the first time, but first I have a question. I know that there are yellow cards and red cards issues as penalties, but what effect do they have? Does a certain amount of yellow cards equal a red, and do a certain amount if reds equal an ejection from the game?

1 yellow = warning

1 red = out

2 yellow (in same match) = 1 red = out

2nd yellow in same round of tourney = out next match


Yellow and red cards are for serious offences.

A good coach doesn't divert blame to his players. He was fully responsible for USA's demise to the Czechs. No coordination, no strategy, no communication. After half time he was sitting on the bench looking up at the sky. Then post match goes and blames his players when he should've blamed himself. As for track record, reaching semis in '02 means squat considering the draw and the form of the teams back then. CONCACAF league is a joke (reasoning why USA is ranked 5th by FIFA standards -so is oceania but I don't expect Australia to do well). And he hindered any real chances for USA to become a football powerhouse when he declined games against south american sides. Did Arena really think that USA was going to make an impact with his preparations?

USA have talent but aren't going to get anywhere with Arena leading them. They need someone with good experience in the way the game is played. Someone that knows the European/South American powerhouses so they can stop playing college football and start playing what everyone is playing.


On another note, the south korea/Togo game was awesome.

I only managed to catch to closing mintues of the France/Swiss game today. I have to say that I'm disappointed in France, who had such a strong team eight years ago. While a win is always nice, the Swiss have done pretty well with the tie. They should be able to beat Togo, and may beat or tie with Korea. If they do, they have a pretty good chance of going on.

Hah, I actually switched off the game about half an hour in because I was bored as all Hell. Thank God for highlights, or I would've missed those goals!

I'm not going to argue about the CONCACAF being weak and all that. It is. But thing thing about the strategy, I just can't agree with. I see what he was trying to get the team to do, and it would have been effective if the US team came out and played with heart. It was heart that was lacking and that's not something a coach can do anything about.

Also, he has every right to criticize the best player on his team for disappearing. Besides, he's done this before with Donovan, and it lit a fire under his *** and he played some of the best soccer he's ever played afterwards. Besides, it's exactly what everyone else in the soccer world is saying on TV, at the water coolers, and every where else people are talking about

And, your entire argument falls apart if the US comes out and gets a good result against Italy on Saturday. Arena is one hell of a motivator, better than you'll ever give him credit for. He's not calling out two of his best players to make them feel bad. He's doing it to get them to play better, to get them to realize that they can't just show up on the field and expect to win.

Haha, yeah, the beginning was messy and boring.... you missed the good part by switching off. The latter half of the game was really good.

That's just not going to happen. But who knows... stranger things have happened.
I would be seriously impressed if the US beat the Italians, but I highly doubt they will. They have a chance against Ghana though.

I'll say 2-0 for Italy.

I have to agree that the North American competition is weak compaired to the European and South American competitions, where the real action takes place.

The Czech are far too big for the US to handle. It's just that simple. I can see the Czech winning the cup. Not kidding.

if the czech republic rapes italy i will be happy.


Spain v Ukraine... the ref needs shooting.

Yeah that was not a penalty but I dont think it would have made any difference. Spain are slaughtering the Ukraine, they look deadly every time they go forward.

Looks like ending 4-0 to the Spanish. What a hiding.

The US has played Italy twice the last few years in Italy and lost both games 1-0, so I'm not counting out their chances. Italy's slow, deliberate style of play will better suit the US too.

Saudi Arabia - Tunisia game, most exciting last 15 minutes I've seen. I was ready to call Tunisia was out, but that 93rd minute goal was amazing.

England vs Trinidad and Tobago tomorrow!

Yeah, the second half was really good.

this next game will be good, last match germany were not on form

and poland will be desperate for a win.

Alright, I'm about to watch the Germany-Poland game. Which players in particular should I keep an eye on, as I've said before I have no knowledge of any players, hell the game, whatsoever.

I'm only half paying attention to it, but if Ballack is playing for Germany keep an eye on him.

Both teams are playing quite sloppily right now, but Klose had a good early attempt at goal.

Arrrrgh, how could Klose miss that header.

Boring first half, with both teams playing pretty poorly. Germany had an incredible chance just before half-time, but they fumbled the cross. To be honest, I think Germany plays a lot like England in terms of style of play, which I currently don't think is a good thing. I love England, and I want them to do well, but some of their passes are so sloppy (same with Germany), I'm wondering how well they can do. :/

OK, a few thoughts on the first half of soccer I've watched ever. First off, I loved the lack of commercials. In America, no game is played without there being a massive amount of commercials, with this game there wasn't a single break until hafltime. Secondly, it was genuinely exciting. Sure there were no goals scored, but the tension of who's going to break through first, and those charges across the field gather momentum like lightning. There were a great deal of close calls, especially the last major goal attempt of the half there, that was close. The finesse probably impressed me the most overall, I've never thought soccer to reall dazzle with the finer points, but they were there in this first half. The ball movement flows so naturally, it's graceful. Really enjoying this so far, I might have been missing out these years.
The problem I foresee is when this World Cup is over, soccer goes back to being dead in America. American soccer is practically non exsitant, and no one sings it's praises like they do of international play. Shame really.

There are never commercials in soccer games. They always show the entire half.




Germany comepletely dominatd the half, and they generated quite a few chances. That's not boring soccer. Watching Poland was boring because they had no attack to speak of, but the Germans were getting plenty of chances.

Surely you get coverage of some of the bigger football leagues over in America on your sports channels? Like the English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Italia Serie A?

I'm sure that there are packages for international soccer one could purchase, but as for basic television, we get nothing. Cable doesn't even include anything like that. OUr biggest sports network ESPN rarely covers soccer, it's on every now and then, but the 4 big sports in America get the most press. Hell, more like the 3 major sports because Hockey is slowing dying in this country too.

Yeah, and you have to pay mucho buckeroos to watch any of it. EPL is only on Pay-per-view for me...

Too true, I see poker on more than soccer. Pitiful.

Nubs, I must say I'm finding your discovery of football (not soccer! :p) quite adorable. Often people are so conditioned by the sports they grow up with that there is very little room for embracing the national sports of other countries. To see you actually sing the praises of football is really nice.

As for what you do when the world cup is over, well, do what I do. I can't watch most matches at home because of the same reason as you (not having cable/sky). So you just do some research, find your nearest pub that shows the right games (surely on some of the 42 bazillian US tv channels there must be football!), buy yourself an Arsenal shirt, find a spot in the pub, make it your own and become an alcoholic like all the best football fans!

I must say, Poland are really impressing me right now, they might not be appearing a huge threat, but there's some great little moves going on. A wonderful save at about 60 mins and just now (66) the most beatiful little tackle - but I was typing though so didn't see who it was!