Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2006 9:02 pm Post subject: Football - La Langue Universelle
So we need a thread about football. So we need to talk about England's flying start under Steve McClaren. So we need to talk about how England just trampled over Andorra, arguably a minnow in the footballing world. So we rain thumps on the back of the new manager. So it's England 5 Andorra 0.
So I stop my annoying manner of writing.
Congratulations to the other home country Scotland for making the Faroe Islands seem like a bunch of schoolboys. Scotland 6 Faroe Islands 0.
France take on Georgia. Hmm...I wonder where the pendulum will swing. _________________ Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.
Now Poland is playing its first game in the Euro 2008 qualification against Finland (51st minute, 0:0). It's also the first offical match of the new Dutch coach of Polish team - Leo Beenkakker. In his kick-off friendly match against Denmark we lost 0:2.
If you remember the play of Poland during the World Cup, little has changed unfortunately.
Tough luck, mate. My deepest sympathies. I do not know how the Polish defence was penetrated under any circumstances, but it seems to me that the Poles have a habit of conceding the first goal of the match, at least since the World Cup.
On a lighter note, France won Georgia 3-0. Always a good start!
What makes this victory even sweeter is the fact that Italy have a poor start to their campaign with a 1-1 draw with tiny Lithuania. Oh well, I suppose the Italians have just won the World Cup. They cannot have it all.
Italy and France are drawn together in the so-called 'Groupe de l'Enfer'. We'll have a mouthwatering replay of the Final when France meet Italy next Wednesday. _________________ Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.
Luxemburg-The Netherlands (0-1), one of the worst matches yet... Normally we beat those amateurs with ease (7-0 is no exception) hmm I hope we can kick the crap out of belarus the next map. :twisted:
Luxemburg-The Netherlands (0-1), one of the worst matches yet... Normally we beat those amateurs with ease (7-0 is no exception) hmm I hope we can kick the crap out of belarus the next map. :twisted:
Dutch team has the opinion of constantly arguing about everything.
Maybe they started to quarell again?
Location: El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Río de Porciúncula
Posted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 1:34 am Post subject: Re: Football - La Langue Universelle
loic wrote:
So we need a thread about football.
The NFL kicks off another season this Thursday night with Super Bowl champs, the Pittsburgh Steelers playing against the Miami Dolphins. Do you think the Steelers got what it takes to take it all the way for a record 6th Super Bowl? If not, who are you putting your money on? Will LA ever get its own NFL franchise?
Lol. I wish I know so that I can maximise my chance of a payoff, Elaine. I would not mind if you enlighten me on this subject and advise me on where to invest my paltry pool of funds.
With regards to the Superbowl, the first (and maybe last) time it burst into my consciousness was over Nipple-Gate - how fast this memory is already receding.
France will meet Italy this evening. Of course, we'd have the 'world's best paid slave' (read: William Gallas) in our back four so I am going to plumb for Les Bleus triumphing over a depleted Azzurri squad.
Allez Les Bleus! _________________ Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.
Brilliant. Simply brilliant, Sidney Gouvou. Languishing on the benches for Lyon for almost the entire last season and he happily justified his international call-up with 2 goals. If only this were the World Cup final.
Four bookings were issued on that evening and all four went to the Italians. Simply brilliant. _________________ Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.
It's a bit late, I know, but here are selected results from the latest round of the qualification games:
FRANCE 0 SCOTLAND 1
The Scottish rode their luck in front of a hugely partisan home crowd at Hampden Park but I honestly feel that it is the case of a better team losing for the day.
ENGLAND 0 MACEDONIA 0
Dismal passing. Awful first touch. Gary Neville would rue the squandered golden opportunity before the goalpost. Wayne Rooney would wonder what is wrong. And Steve McClaren's short run of good results has come to an abrupt end.
WALES 1 SLOVAKIA 5
I have no bloody idea how it happened but it doesn't augur well for Bellamey's captaincy. Bring back Robbie Savage, I say!
N IRELAND 0 DENMARK 0
A decent result to take home. I have no comments as I didn't watch it either. But it is interesting to see how all the British home nations fared over the weekend, eh? _________________ Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.
To get my mind off the depressing news that have been trickling in dribs and drabs from the Adelaide Oval, I am going to focus all my energy and attention on the Barca-Bremen clash that'd take place later this evening. I don't know if anyone here is going to watch the match, but the stakes are massively high for FC Barcelona - they have to win the showdown in order to progress to the Last Sixteen of the Champions League.
Can we rely on Ronaldinho to work the magic at the Nou Camp tonight? We'll let The King speak for himself on the pitch.
_________________ Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.
Old news, really, but David Beckham is set to jet off to a glittering sunset at LA Galaxy after his contract with Real Madrid expires this summer. So the former England captain has finally landed himself in Major League Soccer after having plied his trade in arguably two of the best football leagues in the world.
David Beckham averred that it is not a question of money. Rather, he is interested in promoting football development in America. Do any of you think that football stands a chance of muscling its way into the pantheon of american sports which the big four already monopolise? Is football already more popular than ice hockey in America?
In my opinion, any marketing move that can promote the sport in America can only be a good thing. David observed that America remains the last frontier where football is concerned.
He is wrong. The Indian subcontinent is truly virgin territory which is ripe for the picking. But maybe David might move to Bollywood in Bombay after he tires of Hollywood. _________________ Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.
Kaka was sublime. Cristiano Ronaldo blinked in the headlights and did not amount to much. Rooney's touch deserted him. Oh, how I am relishing this!
So the Scousers would take on the Rossoneris in a replay of the 2005 final. It'd be a mouthwatering clash at Athens.
Kaka celebrating after firing in the first goal of the night from a clever Clarence Seedorf header. _________________ Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.
So I have plenty of reasons to be entertained over the weekend. I watched the All Blacks powered their way to the Philips Tri-Nations cup past Stirling Mortlock's Wallabies; I saw the much vaunted Indian batting line up failing to shine against a rather inexperienced English bowling attack with the great Sachin Tendulkar failing -once again- to get his name engraved on the Lord's honours board; I saw the high and mighty Socceroos getting tossed out in the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup!
AUSTRALIA 1 (3) - JAPAN 1 (4)
As one whose greatest ambition in life is to see Australia eat humble pie in cricket, and by extension, in any other sporting competition, I was obviously barracking for Japan. So I temporarily put aside the residual enmity from the last world war and became the most professional and partisan supporter Japan could ever have asked for. To prove my newfound loyalty, I was merrily swigging Asashi Super Dry instead of Fosters or Victorian Bitter. Mind you, I ordinarily could care less for Asashi, but it was an exception....
Overall, Australia had played poorly in this tournament. They were spectacularly awful against Oman (1-1), shambolic against Iraq where they managed to lose the match by 3-1 while partially redeeming themselves with a 3-0 thumping of Thailand. Against Japan, they never rose to the occasion and they never really asked probing questions of the Japanese back four.
I think the following factors worked in Japan's favour:
1) The level of humidity worked to the advantage of Japan. The Japanese were more adept at dealing with these kind of conditions than the Aussies.
2) Japan has more experience under the belt: they are after all the defending champion of the Asian Cup.
I think Australia need to take a long and hard look at themselves in the mirror and quickly come to the realisation that playing in Asia would not be a piece of cake like Oceania was.
Nippon Ganbare!
Aussie captain Mark Viduka failed to put the ball at the back of the net and was substituted in the 60th odd minute.
Goalkeeper Yoshikatsu denying Harry Kewell and John Aloisi to win the lottery that is the penalty shootouts. _________________ Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.
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