2087 replies to this topic

[Spacemans Bong]

Sigh, would have preferred to be starting this under a more positive disposition, but whatever..

ESPN's World Cup ads

[SoxFanInCali]

Group A
Costa Rica
Ecuador
Germany
Poland

Group B
England
Paraguay
Sweden
Trinidad & Tobago

Group C
Argentina
Ivory Coast
Netherlands
Serbia & Montenegro

Group D
Angola
Iran
Mexico
Portugal

Group E
Czech Republic
Ghana
Italy
United States

Group F
Australia
Brazil
Croatia
Japan

Group G
France
South Korea
Switzerland
Togo

Group H
Saudi Arabia
Spain
Tunisia
Ukraine

[Spacemans Bong]

FIFA World Cup US TV schedule

Official website of the USSF - United States national team

[CJChap]

The US Soccer website has had some pretty cool videos of the team in action at practice....the 6v6 was pretty nice to watch.

Their conditioning program on the other hand makes me want to puke just watching -- but I guess thats why they are considered to be one of the teams in the best shape.

[CJChap]

Official Website of the 2006 FIFA World Cup

Not a bad website at all. They're also going to be hosting a Fantasy World Cup through Yahoo -- think we can get something started?

I believe it is available starting tomorrow.


They've had a pretty good ongoing section on the young players of the World Cup and talk about players throughout the world, not just geographically concentrated on Europe and South America..

[Sille Skrub]

Sigh, would have preferred to be starting this under a more positive disposition, but whatever..

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Why? I thought you soccer fans liked the World Cup?

Isn't it somewhat of a big deal?

Edited by Sille Skrub, 18 May 2006 - 11:28 AM.

[Spacemans Bong]

Why?  I thought you soccer fans liked the World Cup?

Isn't it somewhat of a big deal?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Err..Mayah Skrub, Arsenal lost the European Cup final last night (see other thread).

Some soccer fans don't like the World Cup since they follow their club more, but that's a 20 page thread on its own.

[Sille Skrub]

Is that bad? I don't undertsand.

[Spacemans Bong]

Is that bad?  I don't undertsand.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The European Cup (aka the Champions League) is a tournament where all the top clubs in Europe play each other. It's interspersed throughout the season.

The final is like the European soccer version of the Super Bowl. The biggest match in club soccer, period. There's a few trophies a team could win - the League, the FA Cup (where all 600 teams in England play each other in a knock out tournament) but the European Cup is the most prestigious since it denotes being champion of the entire continent.

Arsenal have never won it before (despite being a very famous club and having many domestic successes) and this was their first appearance in the final. They lost to Barcelona 2-1.

Bad.

[Vinho Tinto]

Is that bad?  I don't undertsand.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

To put in P&G terms: Yesterday for Bonger was like that time when all of the Sina followers lost access to his fables, with no apparent hope of ever getting back in again.

[DJnVa]

To put in P&G terms: Yesterday for Bonger was like that time when all of the Sina followers lost access to his fables, with no apparent hope of ever getting back in again.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah, but Sina has me. Arsenal didn't.

[Grunherz54]

Spanish bombs, yo te quiero infinito, yo te cuerda, o my corazon...

[SaveBooFerriss]

I was out with some diehard soccer fans (one guy who has seen every minute of every world cup game since the early 90's and who is taking vacation the first week of the World Cup so he can watch the games).

They were split between Brazil and Argentina on the favorite. One guy thought the U.S. had a shot in an absolutely stacked group because Italy starts off slow and Czechs are not as athletic as the U.S, but are very good players.

[Bosoxen]

I like Mexico's chances in Group D. Then again, it's never been group play that they've had a problem with. It's once they get past that when they choke.

[dirtynine]

Anyone else headed over to Doucheland? Got lucky with tickets to 2 of the 3 US group games, and (if they advance) the first knockout round. I'm not sure where I'll be in between matches yet, but it should be fantastic.

For indepth US discussion, Big Soccer is decent.
http://www.bigsoccer...splay.php?f=180

The site is 100% garish to look at right now - some nike promotion thing - but usually more readable. But it's not a "Why isn't Freddy Adu on the team!!1" kind of place. Knowledgable, and good attention to detail.

[Phil Plantier]

Odds as of May 8:

BRAZIL            2/1
GERMANY           5/1
ENGLAND           6/1
ARGENTINA         7/1
FRANCE           10/1
ITALY             8/1
NETHERLANDS      10/1
SPAIN            14/1
PORTUGAL         18/1
CZECH REPUBLIC   22/1
MEXICO           35/1
SWEDEN           30/1
UKRAINE          40/1
USA              35/1
CROATIA          50/1
POLAND           75/1
SWITZERLAND      80/1
SERBIA           80/1
PARAGUAY        100/1
AUSTRALIA        80/1
IVORY COAST      75/1
SOUTH KOREA     125/1
GHANA           150/1
ECUADOR         200/1
JAPAN           150/1
COSTA RICA      200/1
TUNISIA         200/1
ANGOLA          300/1
TOGO            300/1
IRAN            400/1
SAUDI ARABIA    500/1
TRINIDAD TOBAGO1000/1

Guess I have to read up on code formatting...

Edited by Phil Plantier, 19 May 2006 - 05:00 PM.

[The Gray Eagle]

What kind of odds can I get on Togo advancing to the next round?

You could make a team of Dutch players not on the Netherlands roster, and it would be a very good soccer team: Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf, Roy Makaay, George Boateng, Romeo Castelen, Nigel de Jong, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Barry Opdam, Michael Reiziger, Jaap Stam, Frank de Boer, Arthur Numan, Ronald de Boer, Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Kluivert, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. Put Ronald Waterreus in goal.

That group has a lot of guys past their primes and/or injured, like the de Boers and Bergkamp, but I think they'd do okay in the World Cup. Lots of strikers, even some young guys like de Jong and Castelen.

Italy and Spain could probably come up with very good Excluded Teams, and of course Brazil as well. Even the US has Twellman heading up our team, with Freidel, Cobi Jones and Kyle Rote Jr. :lol

[DJnVa]

Any interest in a picks pool for the World Cup? We have a decent number of soccer fans here. Anyone want to put their money where their mouth is? Well, it would be free, but still

I'm going to set it up and post the link in a bit...

[CJChap]

That sounds cool to me. I mentioned last week that there is a Fantasy World Cup on Yahoo! if anyone is interested...

[DJnVa]

I set one up on the Aussie site. Mostly because I like typing Aussie.

OzTips

League name: Sons of Sam Horn
League #: 75641
PW: yankeessuck

[CarboCopy]

I set one up on the Aussie site.  Mostly because I like typing Aussie.

OzTips

League name: Sons of Sam Horn
League #: 75641
PW: yankeessuck

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm in. BilboCarbombs.

[c3walsh]

Reyna injured in bad performance by Team USA.
Anybody get a chance to see it?

[c3walsh]

duplicate post...

Edited by c3walsh, 23 May 2006 - 10:00 PM.

[LTF]

When isn't Reyna hurt?

[Joe D Reid]

I set one up on the Aussie site.  Mostly because I like typing Aussie.

OzTips

League name: Sons of Sam Horn
League #: 75641
PW: yankeessuck

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

In! "Cannonabll Run II Is Underrated"

Reyna just tweaked a hammy, which is probably a blessing--it will keep him from really injuring himself during the other two warm-up matches.

[aussiesmum]

Just watching a "Friendlies" warm up Match between Aus and Greece. Match is being played at Telstra Stadium which is world class. Just out of curiosity how would this stadium compare to some of the baseball stadiums in the US??

half time and Aus is up 1 goal to nil



Aussie Stadium

[Vinho Tinto]

Just watching a "Friendlies" warm up Match between Aus and Greece. Match is being played at Telstra Stadium which is world class. Just out of curiosity how would this stadium compare to some of the baseball stadiums in the US??

half time  and Aus is up 1 goal to nil
Aussie Stadium

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's much larger than American baseball stadiums (I think Yankees stadium has the highest capacity, which is around 55K). A capacity of 83K would put it on the high end for an American football stadium. It looks very nice, IMO.

[Clears Cleaver]

When isn't Reyna hurt?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

no shit. he is a great guy but so brittle. and is overrted now as a player. this world cup is setting up to be a huge letdown for the US after 2002. I think they will be lucky to go 1-2-0. if they lose their first match, it likely snowballs and maybe even 0-2-1 or worse is possible

[steeplechase3k]

According to this web site the largest footy only stadium is Azteca is Mexico city at 114,465. But Saltlake stadium in Calcutta holds 120,000 (and from the pictures it looks like footy could be played there).

The largest non-racing in the US is Michigan Stadium at 107,501, but I don't think footy has even been player there...

[Vinho Tinto]

The largest non-racing in the US is Michigan Stadium at 107,501, but I don't think footy has even been player there...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

And if they did, it wasn't a sell out. According to wikipedia, the largest attendance for a game in the United States was 90,185 for the 1999 woman's world cup final.

[asimonetti]

I'm in. Sam's Army.

It's a joke our boys are ranked behind Mexico in the latest FIFA rankings.

[CJChap]

Cory Gibbs is out of the WC for the U.S. and being replaced by Gregg Berhalter, who I cannot stand.

I'm disappointed with this one -- I've really liked what I've seen from Gibbs, but I guess we can survive with Pope and Gooch in the middle, and Lewis on the outside.

Gibbs was versatile and could play in the middle and on the outside.

[CJChap]

Wayne Rooney had his MRI on his injured ankle yesterday. Reports are that he will be out of commission for at least the group stages.

They also lost their backup keeper Green tore his groin while taking a goal kick, thus duffing the kick right to the Belarussian forward who promptly put it in the back of the net.

Anyone see the entire game? From what I saw, it looked like Lennon was pretty good. Didn't catch any of Walcott.

[AusTexSoxFan]

I'll join in on the fun. Definitely a big fan of soccer. Kinda surprised that Holland is listed at 10-1. I've got them in the final against Brazil. A potential second round game between Germany and England would be fantastic. My sleepers are Czech Republic and Ukraine. I like them both to make the quarters.

Was quite pleased with how the Champions League final played out. Been a big fan of Barca since I lived in Spain back in the mid 90s. Glad to see them win a Champions League and shut up all the Madrid fans.

[The Gray Eagle]

I saw some of the England-Belarus game. Very weird play on the injury to Green. He was taking a goal kick, and went down like he was shot after kicking the ball.

I didn't see much of Walcott, though he did zip between two defenders on one play and would have broken into the clear, but was hauled down.

England didn't bring the whole varsity for this one, but then again neither did Belarus-- no Hleb!

[Phil Plantier]

Watched some of the US-Venezuela game last night - the US looked much better. Then I looked at the FIFA rankings (which are, of course, a blunt instrument):

Morocco 36
Venezuela 71

It makes sense that the US is a team built to dominate weak teams, that's how we've qualified for the WC the last 2 times. I don't know if that'll be very handy in our WC group, though...

Edited by Phil Plantier, 27 May 2006 - 08:19 AM.

[DJnVa]

Not directly World Cup related, but there is a documentary coming out this summer about the New York Cosmos.

Once In A Lifetime

I'm hoping Bonger can relate some tales of hanging out with the team.

[Joe D Reid]

Bump.

Well, shit. There went all of our penetrating analysis. Guess we'll just have to sit back and watch like the rest of the world.

[c3walsh]

And so, it begins...the quest for:

For anyone who needs a brief: "2 minute" guide.

Also, Schedule

I can't wait - 2 more hours...

[Vinho Tinto]

Bump.

Well, shit.  There went all of our penetrating analysis.  Guess we'll just have to sit back and watch like the rest of the world.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Oh come on, we can still do it!

I'll start: Brazil, is like, WICKED good.

Who's next?

[Devizier]

We love you England, we do! We love you England, we do! We love you England, we do... O! England we love you!

Ok, not really.

[jmbean50]

Does anyone know if the matches can be seen on the internet? Preferably for free? I'm gonna be stuck at work when most of the matches will be on.

Edited by jmbean50, 09 June 2006 - 09:43 AM.

[c3walsh]

Does anyone know if the matches can be seen on the internet? Preferably for free? I'm gonna be stuck at work when most of the matches will be on.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not that I am aware of. That is a problem for me as well. I am going to try to take my lunch break around those times though.

[Vinho Tinto]

Does anyone know if the matches can be seen on the internet? Preferably for free? I'm gonna be stuck at work when most of the matches will be on.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Go to ESPN360. It's free, but your ISP has to be compatible.

[biollante]

My ISP at work is not compatible.....

[DJnVa]

Quick score predictions?

Germany, 3-1

Poland, 3-2 on a late Frankowski goal.

[c3walsh]

GER 1 - CR 0
POL 2 - ECU 2

[CarboCopy]

Golazo de Alemania.

Edit: Lahm with a beautiful move and a shot to the upper right corner at 5 minutes. Germany's come out firing.

And just like that, Costa Rica ties it up.

Edited by CarboCopy, 09 June 2006 - 11:13 AM.

[DJnVa]

GER 1 - CR 0
POL 2 - ECU 2

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'd be surprised if the Ticos can hold Germany to just one goal. Ballack is playing, right?

[finnVT]

I'd be surprised if the Ticos can hold Germany to just one goal.  Ballack is playing, right?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No Ballack. Anyone got a good site to track the game? I'm using CBS sportsline, which seems ok, but not great.