DID THE BRITISH PRESS JINX ENGLAND?England completely blew a golden opportunity to take control of Group C on Friday as they played out a scoreless draw with Algeria. The group is completely wide open entering Wednesday’s matches. England has to beat Slovenia to reach the knockout stage, however, there is a scenario where the Brits can also get in with a draw (U.S. also draws and England makes up the goals scored difference.)
Now, as Croatians, would you rather see England ousted in the Group Stage at the expense of Slovenia going through or have England in the knockout rounds so the Slovenian press doesn’t have a field day with us? England embarrassed Croatia in qualifiers but Slovenia have been annoying neighbors since the war ended. Which is the lesser of the two evils?
©Anthony Ibarra
WHERE IS WAAAAAAAAYNE ROOOOOOOOONEY???One of the world’s greatest strikers, Wayne Rooney, has been absolutely absent in his first two matches for England this World Cup. What’s going on with the Manchester United striker? Maybe he needs a shot of rakija.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED THUS FAR IN THE WORLD CUP?..
SLOVENES HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO CELEBRATE
REFEREES ARE STILL RUINING GAMES: SERBIA V. GERMANY, U.S.A. V. SLOVENIA
FREE KICK GOALS ARE NOT WELCOME
THIS IS ONE OF THE LOWEST SCORING WC IN DECADES: ONLY 6 OF THE 23 MATCHES ALREADY PLAYED HAVE HAD MORE THAN TWO GOALS. GAMES ARE AVERAGING 1.87 GOALS AS OF FRIDAY. WHAT’S GOING ON?
@King Bronk,
I started reading "The fixx" and I like it. I will wont comment on the book until I finish reading it.
"More use of instant replay to judge controversial calls. Have a replay booth that communicates with the officials. Time to use technology. "
I agree 100%… If you would have told me this before the world cup I was 50-50… but after the Mexico-Argentina and England-Germany games… its time for instant replays… we have the technology, this isnt 1966(England)
I will get back to you a little bit more about match fixing after I finish reading the book.
Take a look at my boy Colin Cowherd..
http://espnradio.espn.go.com/espnradio/show?showId=theherd
June 28th, click "listen" for USA soccer take… I agree 100%…
It's obvious Tim Donaghy didn't work alone otherwise how could he call 80% of the games he bet on that he didn't ref according to the FBI. He admits other refs fixed games in his new book called "Personal Foul." San Antonio according to Brian Toughy was the safe bet with the NBA because Duncan was a superstar without much scandal…but he didn't have charisma which hurt ratings, but a guy that would not have scandal follow him ala MJ (gambling) and Kobe (rape).
As for how you stop match fixing…I think you need some sort of independent organization monitoring and appointing the refs, instead of the NBA and other sports leagues, who as everyone can see benefits most by some of these fixes. This independent group could watch over what's going on and try to ensure the league itself is not fixing games. Pay officials better. Refs salaries are miniscule compared to all these players. Pay them more and they won't be tempted to fix. More use of instant replay to judge controversial calls. Have a replay booth that communicates with the officials. Time to use technology. The suggestions by Declan Hill with soccer are very good. The teams at the WC should be paid by FIFA instead of their federations. Poor countries players would be paid well and would be less likely to fix Any claim of match fixing by anyone needs to be seriously investigated. Players, refs, coaches caught are suspended for life. Make the punishment as harsh as possible. I don't think you could ever wipe it out completely but you can seriously limit it.
Cheers
@King Bronk
I agree with the Gasol trade. Jerry West was behind this at Memphis. Just like Kevin Mchale gave away Kevin Garnett to the Celtics for free.
Gasol wanted out of Memphis a year before the trade. Memphis season tickholders wanted him out. He was a cancer to the team. I agree though, Gasol was a steal. His game has improved since arrived to the Lakers.
"As for Chicago they won 6 titles in the 90's now its LAs turn…next it will probably be the team where Lebron ends up and these other all stars follow him."
I agree with this… Championships seem to follow stars..
You still cant explain San antonio. The NBA surely lost $$$ during Spurs-Nets and Spurs-Pistons finals…. no one cared…
"Seriously if its fixed, which most of you agree it is to some degree, why do we as a society spend so much time following sports and so little time paying attention to the bigger problems in the world that really impact our lives?"
Huge post of the day. Excellent take!
as far as videos…….
first off, thanks for taking the time to post off of these links…
I watched most of these videos.
Declan Hill argument is that the smaller countries are not getting paid and are more tempted to get paid "elsewhere"..
He doesnt like the idea that players dont get paid in the world cup. This would not abolish match fixing.
Bottom line, match fixing exists and cant be stopped. All it takes is one referee, one goalie, one defender to slip a "handball" ala Serbia… and thats that…
my question to you is….
How do we stop this?
Do you think Tim Donaghy worked alone? Is the only one? I think not.
Denis my man…even when Kobe was 18 he said he was going to play for LA. Told the other teams not to draft him. Gasol the guy who really created this championship team arrived for a deflated basketball. Are you telling me Memphis couldn't get anything better for that guy no ther team was willing to "break bread"…please. An all star center for nothing…sign me up for that one.
As for the rebounds like I said LA didn't take advantage of that in that final game. They shot .325.
Free throws won the game plain and simple. Most of the fouls in the 4th Q were phantom calls. You looked at Kobe foul. Gasol breathed on you foul. Those 2 would make a move crash into someone and then look at the ref for the call. It was ridicules. gasol even threw the ball straight into the air looked at the ref for 5 sec and sure enough there was the call.
LA is a big market Denis.
As for Chicago they won 6 titles in the 90's now its LAs turn…next it will probably be the team where Lebron ends up and these other all stars follow him.
Im sure Stern is having no say in any of this.
I'm from Toronto.
Did you look at any of those interviews that I put up?
Any thoughts?
As for the match fixing stuff all I am saying is that all this time and energy is put into following sports, yet according to some of these reputable journalists its rigged. One might wonder why ppl follow sports so much and why it is so popular in our society? My guess it's probably the old bread and circus routine in that it's simply a designed distraction from the bigger problems around the world, like the oil spill in the gulf, war in Iraq, another possible one in Iran, and the massive looting of the us treasury by all these banks? Seriously if its fixed, which most of you agree it is to some degree, why do we as a society spend so much time following sports and so little time paying attention to the bigger problems in the world that really impact our lives?
Just a through:)
@King Bronk
"The free throws 21 in the 4th Q won the lakers the game not their height."
Dude, the height is what got them the rebound, and rebounds are obtained under the basket, where the fouls are called in the act of shooting.
Have you noticed that most of the fouls called on the Lakers are calle don the floor and not in the act of shooting? Why? Because most of the fouls happened on the perimeter. Boston had no inside presence. Throw the ball inside and you get the fouls.. offensive rebounds lead to fouls..
Bottom line, you need height to get free throws..
I have a feeling that you are a laker hater… Where are you writing us from? NY you said?
"There is a history of the NBA favoring the Lakers. everyone in basketball knows this."
You think so? I disagree… The NBA favors big markets like New York and Chicago.. They have both been sucking for years.
"Kobe was aquired for an old Vlade Divac" Vlade was traded by the Lakers to Charlotte for the 13th pick in the draft… which happened to be Kobe Bryant…. How come the other 12 teams didnt pick Kobe? set up? I dont think so… look at these players chosen before kobe..
#12 Vitaly Potapenko, #11 Todd Fuller, #10 Erick Dampier, #9 Samaki Walker, #8 Kerry Kittles, #7 Lorenzen wright.. another solid pick by the Clippers.
"Twice in the span of 3 years you have had a celtics lakers final."
Do you really think any other team deserved to be in the final?
bottom line it all comes down to money and management… Clippers don't have either(They have the $$$ but the owner is unwilling to "break bread")…
Lakers are willing to "break bread" and are in a big market with an ideal, attractive location…
I never heard one player interested in playing for the timberwolves.
The league does whatever it can to better themselves… set up games… extend the celtics-Lakers series to 7… etc etc… but championships are not set up.. at least I dont think so…
on to soccer……
"Is it possible that the Korean players who aren't paid very well mailed the game in and made sure they lost by say 6 or more goals for a betting line?"
Yes, its possible… however, I have seen so many times a team hold off another for 60 minutes or so.. give up a goal… and then give up 2,3,4,5 goals in 10 minutes… how is this possible? The answer is…. the team just gives up… North Korea just gave up..
i want slovenia to go thru waaaay more than england, eventhough my bracket has england finishing first and US second
champions league qualifying schedule set. dinamo v koper.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=799786&sec=uefachampionsleague&campaign=rss&source=soccernet&cc=5901
the US got robbed, but that's soccer. refs aren't all-seeing, and mistakes are made and teams get screwed. if they can keep up the pace that they set in the second half against slovenia, they should beat algeria comfortably. i think england will beat slovenia and advance as well.
france is a disgrace and a laughing stock. i love it. that's three WC's in a row. 3 and out without scoring a goal in 2002, zidane headbutt fiasco in 2006, and player mutiny in 2010. i love it. serves those frog pigs right. i have nothing against their individual players because they are all of high quality. i just like to see the french socialist nation suffer.
i think latin america owns this world cup so far, argentina, brazil, mexico, uruguay, chile, and paraguay, in that order…all playing the best soccer in the WC thusfar.
I'll tell you what, I'm not an odds maker, bookie or a match fixer….I'm a sports fan like yourself. A friend of mine played professional soccer albeit in North America, and he was the one who got me interested about this topic. He told me things he saw when he was playing and stories his friends in soccer told him. He was the one who told me to read The Fix by Declan Hill…and from there I read The Fix Is In by Brian Toughy.
From my research I was startled by the fact at how really wide spread corruption is in sports in general, not just soccer. As a sports fan it has made me very sceptical. I used to think that when things didn't make sense a refs bad call, a terribly one sided trade or a strange coaching move, that it was just incompetence. However, after my research I now suspect that there may be other forces at work.
For instance, take a look at today's Koreas 7-0 loss to Portugal. This is a team that held Brazil to a 2-1 score. Now I'm not saying N Korea would have won, but what I am saying is that it is odd that they lost by 7. Is it possible that the Korean players who aren't paid very well mailed the game in and made sure they lost by say 6 or more goals for a betting line?
In game 7 the Lakers had 20 more free throws than the Celtics. In the final 2 minutes where instant replay is used in the NBA Gasol's up and down travel which gave the lakers a 6pt lead was not reviewed. Why? Did the NBA want LA to win? There is a history of the NBA favoring the Lakers. everyone in basketball knows this. Just Look at the semi finals between sacramento and La in 2002.
Can anyone honestly say that series wasnt fixed? Look at how this team was built. Kobe was aquired for an old Vlade Divac, Paul Gasol came to the Lakers for a used water bottle. Were these really bad trades or did the league have a hand in it? You could also make the same argument for the Celtics. KG and Ray Allen basically came to Boston for some sports tape and a deflated basketball. Is it a coincidence then that in the last three finals at least one of these two teams have met. Twice in the span of 3 years you have had a celtics lakers final. It workes out great for the league it had its highest ratings in 13 years. Is all of this a lucky coincidence for the NBA or is there something else at work? It really makes you wonder as a sports fan. I mean we invest so much time, money and energy watching this stuff. When you start to think that it all may be fake is really disheartening as a fan. You would like to believe that at least sports is somewhat sacred and not corrupt. When you realize that it's like everything else in life professional sports loses its lustre which is sad.
Send England home!!! Slovenia will get clobbered in their first knockout round game so who cares anyway. I am so tired of how England is going to win the WC with this new Italian coach, Fabio Capello. Piss on England for not having an English coach. If they are the best then where is there great English born coach? The only good thing that came from England when regarding football or soccer if you will is creating the game. Their teams are way over rated! The only reason Croatia is not in the WC is because Slaven Bilić’s head grew too big and he over coached the team by making bad mistakes in not bringing up the correct players during qualifying.
England not making it to the knock-out rounds would be tragic for English football and the world press would have a field day with them. Send England home!!!
Hey Slovenia don’t forget EASY!!!
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ij1R5uFK560/TBwk-MdCcrI/AAAAAAAAB4E/00GmnCqgxLk/s1600/the-sun-world-cup-2010.jpg
@ King Bronk,
If you don't mind me asking. Are you a match fixer or an oddsmaker? It has to be one of the two.
Hey guys check out the interviews here on youtube and let me know what you think.
Dude look at the numbers.Look at the Lakers shooting % its obvious they didnt take advantage of their offensive rebounds. They shot .325 for God sake. The free throws 21 in the 4th Q won the lakers the game not their height. Take a look 83 attempts 27 FG Lakers. Celtics 29-71 attempts. So the Celtics out scored them on the floor. Lets take a look at 3s Lakers 4-20
Celtics 6-16. Cetics shot better there too.
So what was the difference?
Free throws and foul calls.
Celtics 15-17 Lakers 25-37
The numbers don't lie. 21 free throws in the 4th gave them the game not Kobe or their height.
@King Bronk,
You answered your own question…
""I thought our guys battled down there, but 23-8, you know, on offensive rebounds, and then the 37-17 discrepancy in free throws, that makes it almost impossible to overcome," Rivers said."
23-8 on offensive rebounds..
tell me, who wins getting outrebounded like this.. How many second chance points opportunities is that? Also, 4 of the 8 rebounds were by Rondo, most likely off of long 3 point misses..
half of those 23 Laker rebounds were under the basket for layups or fouls..
Lakers committed 19 fouls leading to 17 free throws…
Bosotn committed 25 fouls leading to 37 free throws…
Lakers are just too big… Like I said… no chance without Perkins.. they ran out of gas..
"'I know you guys are probably Laker boosters being from california but the truth is the truth."
Yes, NBA is fixed so Lakers win.. I disagree..
23-8 offensive rebounds… stat of the game.. with offensive rebounds… comes fouls… plain and simple..
Thanks for the links, havent had a chance to see them…. I will comment later…
http://www.howtofixasoccergame.com/ Declan Hills Website
http://thefixisin.net/interviews.html
Brian Toughy's Website
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Donaghy
http://www.amazon.com/Personal-Foul-First-Person-Account-Scandal/dp/0615306039
Dude you get free throws by fouls being called. The stat there was 37-17. The Lakers had 21 free throws in just in the 4th Q compared to 6 for the Celtics. You don't see a slight discrepancy there? For a physical game the foul calls went just one way for the Lakers. The lakers shot a putrid .325 in the game.
Lakers FG 3Pt FT +/- Off Reb Ast TO Stl BS BA PF Pts
Totals 27-83 4-20 25-37 23 53 11 11 7 3 7 19 83
Percentages: .325 .200 .676 Team Rebounds: 13
Celtics FG 3Pt FT +/- Off Reb Ast TO Stl BS BA PF Pts
Totals 29-71 6-16 15-17 8 40 18 14 6 7 3 25 79
Percentages: .408 .375 .882 Team Rebounds: 6
Doc Rivers
"I thought our guys battled down there, but 23-8, you know, on offensive rebounds, and then the 37-17 discrepancy in free throws, that makes it almost impossible to overcome," Rivers said.
However the lakers shooting was so poor they never took advantage of the offensive rebounds ….What they did take advantage of were the free throws and that decided the game.
The celtics beat the lakers in every stat except the scoreboard.
The discrepancy in the free throws decided the game plain and simple.
I know you guys are probably Laker boosters being from california but the truth is the truth.
Two words for the NBA doubters…Tim Donaghy.
Unfortunately soccer doesnt have the monopoly when it comes to this sort of stuff.
Listen to this stuff: Youtube
Brian Toughy.. The author if the fix is in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9S3yd74HNZY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cyjCAoxKA8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W20hoiRRUsY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfHktdnBsEo&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY9FBM66SE8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLoEysyAuWE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp6oFUai7kU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gotA97Wjtjc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZPvD3rEff4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLilxrTzg1U&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytIIfFyN5fM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L86dNfXVjqQ&feature=related
Youtube Interview Soccer Related…Declan Hill….Author of the Fix
Check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwxJ2oM3rCg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycK5HfR_aUA
Youtube Interview with Tim Donaghy arrested NBA ref for match fixing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWnxFucJo1s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hydwFJxN3yk
Unfortunatly all sports are fixed to some degree.
@Alex,
Yes, I would rather have England sent home. The British press would have a field day. Have you read about that fan that snuck into the British locker room and confronted Beckham? Watch out if Slovenia wins game 3. Although, I think England will still top the group.
@dinamofan,
"What we've learned so far is that there is no outstanding team in international football."
I agree.
@Ziva Istina,
"USA robbed of win" is soccer topic #1 here in the states and on ESPN. US deserved the win.
@King Bronk,
"Well another NBA rigged season is over."
haha, thats funny. I believe some regular season and playoff games are rigged but NBA championships are not rigged. The only championship that might be rigged is Lakers-Detriot when Kobe Bryant failed to show up, and forcing the Lakers to trade Shaq in the offseason.
The Celtics ran out of gas against the Lakers in game 7. Rasheed Wallace 35 minutes and Garnett 38 minutes. The loss of Perkins was huge for the Celts,
don't look at free throws attempted, look at total fouls.. Celtics 25, Lakers 19… considering the Lakers pound the ball inside on almost every play, chances are they will get fouled twice as much as the Celtics. 25-19 is fair considering they are playing in LA.
soccer……..
Obama has been rumored to show up in SA for second round if USA make it. SA and FIFA would like it if Obama doesn't show up for security reasons. Rumors are going around that FIFA will try to arrange an early exit for the Americans.. What do you think about this?
Serbia? get out of here… you think that 2 players will set up the game exactly the same way? and then Serbia saves the PK….haha.. nothing fishy here.. Serbia stick it to themselves one way or another..
I say let Slovenia go through the group they will get their asses handed to them no matter who they end up playing (Germany, Ghana or Serbia). England threw the game against Ukraine just to knock us out of the qualifiers. I'm not hating on them because they destroyed us in two games, that was our own fault, but they have no sportsmanship in my opinion. England could still bounce back and make a run for it, Slovenia will have just one more game and that's it.
Cheers
Tottenham is on the tail of Pletikosa again
http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2010/06/15/1977488/tottenham-hotspur-resume-interest-in-spartak-moscow
Yeah- If 80% of English EPL players were from Algeria, they'd be playing in Algeria(not the EPL) and vice versa. It's much more difficult for a player from a small country(with a small league) to get a contract in one of the top leagues. For many of the English journeymen players, so much is about being in the right place at the right time. For example, how many guys with years playing for bottom EPL sides got there after playing for a club promoted from the Championship? Are they that much better than the average Championship player or were they lucky by playing for a promoted side and getting noticed?
I agree with you Ziva. They've been saying that all week here. About Algeria. They only knew Belhadj and thought the rest of team played in semi professional football in Algeria. The comment was only Belhadj could make an EPL, but the dopey morons didn't realise that Yebda is a EPL player last season and showed up well. There is a guy at Wolves who netted in the last games of the season. England fans do not even know who there opposition is. They are not a educated bunch.
With Slovenia. They say there best player is Robert Koren and he was released by West Brom. Not true. Koren simply wanted to leave and didn't get on with his coach. But what about Novakovic – scored lots of goals for Koln and Birsa is a quality player for Auxerre. Cesar has just joined Chievo. Samir Handanovic is highly rated at Udinese. England just want to think other teams are not fit to play against them. Its hard to route too hard for Slovenia as deep down i know they are limited. They work hard, but they will hit a ceiling eventually. Putting aside how stupid their fans are England do need to change their team and will prob see the rewards. Personally if i was England manager i'd not have sent Tom Huddlestone and Adam Johnson home. They didn't have to play 4-4-2. Huddlestone could have played alongside Barry with Gerard in front of them, with Lampard one side of Rooney and Joe Cole on the other. With 4-4-2 there team is very exposed. Again another side who is really there for the taking.
Bronk, your starting to sound plain paranoid- it does your arguement no favours.
Dinamofan, I totally agree, although I'd make 2 exceptions-Spain and Brasil. Those 2 have absolutely superb squads in every position. Of course that doesn't guarantee victory. I believe that in intl football, sides don't have lots of time to gel and work on tactics/understanding, so that the sides with a natural cohesion and understanding do as well or better than a dysfunctional side with more talent. This explains Germany's strength and also Spains underachievment. In club football, all teams have all year to gel, so that the sides with the most talent usually prevail. In the intl game that cohesion is more hit or miss and is hard to create.
Ive many English friends and aquaintences and none of them gloated after their victories. Most of them congratulated me, in fact. If anything, I was the prick who gloated after ours. Most English here know that their team is overrated. Watching the Algeria game with them, they just shrugged their shoulders and said "same old England".
That said, I'd still want them sent home early as I'm so sick of having to hear their press glorify them and their players every week.
What would be good, is if next world cup; Russia, Turkey and Isreal qualified in their own continents not waste space in ours.
I think this really needs to be addressed with a protest. I'm in Toronto for the G20 and am taking this shit to the streets!!
Ziva what you mean the Enlish didn't talk crap after the Cro defeats,I witnessed it 1st hand in there papers,media,but most of all there fans,who were talking so much sh * * t on the forums that Quilton would have been an ideal sponsor,These are the same fans that Boo them at every International that goes bad..
I show no pity when it comes to the England national team,I still see them advancing to the quarters or Semis,tho i hope my completely wrong..
in the mean time ima be supporting Uruguay,every 1 talks about how good Croats are at sport for a nation of 4.5 mil,well how about Uruguay, a lil more then 3 mil & allways play a good brand of football & have massive achievements, have claimed 14 Copa America's, 2 World Cups,all that from a small nation competing with the likes of Brazil & Argentina, Would be good to see diego Forlan win the golden boot,such a quality player..
Well another NBA rigged season is over. Commentators claimed game 7 was a "physical game" yet the fouls all went one way…against the Celtics. Only stat to look at 17 free throw attempts for the Celtics and 37 free throw attempts for the LA…including 21 attempts in the 4th quarter. The MVP should have been the ref!
Back to Soccer….was it me or did Vidic try to do his best Kuzmanovic and Tomas impersonation?
2 obvious handballs by 2 really good defenders…What are the odds of this?
The strange call against the USA. What was that all about? Higher ratings and interest for the final group stage games?
First, England fans were not talking about crap about us after the two qualifiers. Half the brits still cant pinpoint Cro on a map. Now, i am rooting against them because of this arrogance their fans and media have thinking they have a god given right to advance.
Here is my take from down here in S. Africa…
the problem is the light ball in altitude. This ball was used in the Bundesliga this season and there were no issues.
Lack of scoring…..as some of you have said, the lesser talented teams are staying behind the ball and playing for ties or hoping for a counter goal. The scoring has opened up a bit with the second phase of games, but we still need more goals.
the refs……..i dont know what to say about them. some strange calls. I was at the US game last night and i did not see a replay of the disallowed goal until we got into the bars after the game. Wow, is all i can say. Too bad, i felt if that goal would have gone and the comeback would have been complete, that folks back home in the US would be discussing this more. Maybe they are, who knows.
What we've learned so far is that there is no outstanding team in international football. Players from all different nations make up the best leagues in the world. Remove the foriegn players and you have a mediocre EPL, Serie A, Spanish league etc. You have players who can play Championship level football and make the Argentina line up. Whereas you can also have some of the worlds best like Essien at Ghana, so this why the games are so level. Who knows who will win the world cup. its wide open.. England and U.S was a level match and so was the match V Algeria. Algeria were comfortable in defence and midfield, but played NO centre forward. I found the fact Algeria had no centre forward more annoying that Englands play. Algeria can beat U.S. Slovenia should have buried U.S today. Good hustling by U.S but apart from a couple of set plays they did nothing.
Slovenia V England i'm not sure what will happen. Slovenia cannot play bunker as guys like Suler can't concentrate for 90mins so they have to just play open against England and see how it goes. If Birsa etc find the net first then it will be easier for them to play counter.
International football is totally open. On what basis people think there is any outstanding teams. All those big sides are living on past glories. If you actually look through there actual line ups, they can all be taken down by any reasonable side. People say about Argentina, but look at the defence. Newcastle winger at Right back. Demechelis is a defensive mid in centre back role and Heinz and Samuel were written off at Real Madrid. You can get through these teams. Everyone looks vulnerable as far as i can see.
As for Serbia i have no idea whats happening there. As far as i'm concerned the teams are so close these days that a team who hasn't even qualified for the World Cup like Turkey or Russia could win the next Euro. Look at Italy, England, France. There players are all old and there line up next campaign is going to be distinctly average. All the worlds best are spread around the world these days. If you make Liverpool, Man Utd, Chelsea all English players Rooney, Gerard etc would play like this every week. Its playing with foriegn players that make them look good. If we actually look what club and international football is. Club football is money driven into a few leagues to collect together the WORLDS best players. Internationally football exposes the real issues of countries that look good purely cos of foriegn players.
Having said that England can still win games as everyones the same. England need to remove to mediocre i.e Heskey from the squad and they'll do better. In England they want Gerard behind Rooney and Joe Cole who is a technical player on the left and i kinda see there point. Anyone who advocates a foriegn manager and use England as an example. £6m to Capello to get knocked out of World Cup first round. Would you really want Croatia to do that. Russia is same. Paid Hiddink millions to get knocked out by Slovenia. Sometimes your best of sticking with an average guy like Bilic on sensible wages. At least he's not there for the money.
Sportsbet winner Here, Last night I won $260 on Serbias Account, I had placed a $40 bet that Serbia would win & we all know the result, Even tho I had bet on Serbia,it might sound weird but I was still hoping Germany would win,Even if i left minus $40,but Germans dug there own grave with a little help from the Ref..
Id like Slovenia to progress over England with a doubt,After all the Crap England fans talked about us after the 2 humiliating defeats,I love watching them fail,Im almost certain England will progress tho,But i havent stopped dreaming,would most definitly rip out the Rakija & have a few shots on there account if they some how failed to progress..
I'd much prefer England to get sent home. Who really even cares about Slovenia. Who reads the Slovene press (do they even have one)? I'm sure they'll gloat about making the knockout round but it can't compare to the hours of joy and laughter to be had from reading the English press cannibalize their "lads"…
You forgot to mention the red card given to Kaita of Nigeria in their game against Greece. Yes he 'tried' to cleat the Greek but it was an obvious flop. Turned the whole game around.
Regarding free kicks, yes the ball is light and I have had first hand experience with it since January. You have to drive it with the laces. Once it gets up, it stays up (that's what she said). Any free kick within 22 yards is not going in upper 90. You need to keep it on the ground.
I saw Argentina and France already use this technique. They play a dead ball into the box as a pass and kick it back out to the wing. Did FIFA make a light ball and then not even calculate the effects of thinner air at altitude? Whoops!
As for England v Slovenia. I would rather have England knocked out in Group stage. Slovenia will get an extra game, get their ass handed to them by Germany or Ghana and then go home. They get to talk shit for like 3 days that they did better than us and then they go back to being a mediocre European team. I always root for the underdog. Balkan politics are still retarded but it's always nice to see a Butler upset a Duke. Especially when you're team isn't in it.
England not getting out of group would bring me much more joy. Especially with the above picture of The Sun spelling E.A.S.Y
England would be in shambles and Capello would look like a clown and never be welcome to the British Isle again. 'The best group since the Beatles! WOW…. Ajmo Nizozemska!!!
the problem is that it is in africa. failure waiting to happen.
I still think England will top the group… Vegas has them as Even to top the group. England 2 Slovenia 0. Gerrard will score in the 55th minute after a scoreless half, not being able to crack a Slovenian bunker. Slovenia will be forced to open up, resulting in a Wayne Rooney goal.
USA will struggle with Algeria, scoring in the 65th minute of play to qualify 2nd and a rematch with Germany in the second round.
So far this world cup sucks..
1) Teams are playing too conservative, resulting in less goals and less action. Weaker teams have learned how to play bunker, frustrating teams and winning on the counter.
2) Referees have been dismal at best… USA's 3rd goal… Klose's 2 yellows? terrible refereeing thus far. Hopefully, this will change in the knockout rounds when some of these morans will be sent home probably with a pocket full of cash.
3) Not one free kick goal…. Dario Srna would have had 2 by now.
I'm actually hoping for England to smash on the Slovenians, however, seeing England knocked out in the first round wouldnt be the worst thing in the world.
England 2 Slovenia 0
USA 1 Algeria 0