I reckon Cristiano Ronaldo might be looking for a job in the Primera Liga shortly. :D

Funny thing is the ref seems not to have noticed this, and sent him off for the push for Cristiano Ronaldo, in that respect it was a bit harsh, but for what he did before he did deserve it.

Portugal didn't seem to have the best sports manship, like you said diving and always little niggiling fouls pushing, little kicks, not that bad in themselves, but persistant.

As for penalties, great keeping from Ricardo, althoug a couple of the shots weren't the best. </font>[/QUOTE]Rooney has to share the blame for getting himself sent off. We've had a record for red and yellows set in this tournament, he should have known better. He needs to learn to control himself on the pitch. This is not the first time this has happened to him. He was frustrated and stomped on the bloke. You can't do that. You could see it coming - he was starting to lose it even halfway through the 1st half, getting frustrated, getting angry, and losing a bit of discipline.

In any case, England never really got going, and all the concerns about their inability to fashion a goal from anything other than a set piece came back to haunt them. The dodgy form against the weaker teams in T&T and Ecuador proved to be a harbinger of what was to come. If ever a match was skewed in their favour it was this one, with Portugal missing a number of players.

I do feel for England though - it sucks to lose to PKs as it's basically a roll of the dice at that point. It's whoever has the mental strength to prevail.

I have mixed feelings about Portugal going through - at times they can play sublime football, but at other times they're the dirtiest team in football, with their Hollywoods and their ill-discipline. If I were playing against them I'd probably have been sent off too. :D

So would i, no doubt. But at least it would be for a good reason...for biting off Figo's ugly head. :D

I've figured it out. The closer it gets to the world cup final, the less it becomes about skill and sportsmanship and the more it becomes about trying to gain the attention of the solitary referee. It don't matter if the "foul" occured 2 minutes before falling on the ground, one can still play wounded soldier and, if not gain the ref's sympathy, earn a whole bunch of tears from the heartbroken masses. WHAT'S BEAUTIFUL ABOUT THAT?

I am of course referring to the Portugal game. A pity England didn't win.

I am pretty sure the ref sent him off for pushing CRonaldo, not for stamping on the poor guys gonads.

For that, I don't think it was a sending off. I haven't quite decided if it looked like Rooney did it on purpose (I didn't watch the highlights, too depressing), he could have just stood up, but we'll never know...

I think Portugal might have wanted penalties (hence not having a striker on for some of the match), as they knew how good Ricardo was at all.

Tops of to him, good keeper..still hate him though *grin*

On the other hand it's questionable why England fielded only one deep targetman. What sort of system were they playing anyway ? 4-1-4-1 ? Must be Swedish logic from the dark ages, how can you ever expect to have any succes with tactics like that ? England should be glad Eriksson is gone now, from now on it can only get better.

To be honest it was sad to watch England, I mean Sven looked as if he couldnt wait for each game to be over.

In all seriousness I didn't enjoy seeing England lose out to the Portugese: a team that in my opinion degrade the game with their theatrics, it was a shame but a relief for many Scots I'm sure but to go out in pens is never a good thing.

Roll on 2010 where hopefully we can look forward to a world cup final against the Auld enemy [img]graemlins/drinkup.gif[/img]

I though France did an excellent job getting Brazil out of their rythem. I'm used to seeing Brazil cut with quick passes and then some fancy ball work but France never let them get the ball working. They always seemed to be in the right place defensively. I thought France played a very good game the entire match.

It was almost comical to watch Crouch in the England game try and handle the ball. With those long arms and legs he looked so out of place, I thought he did as good as he could but it was funny just the same.

Oh boy, it's going to be fun at ManU's start of the new season. :D

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y29...do-the_sun.jpg

I found this one to be funny and sad at the same time...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y29...onaldodive.gif

[ 07-03-2006, 12:35 PM: Message edited by: johnny ]

Putting the whole Rooney issue aside - I think he deserved that red card for kicking the Portugese player in the groin - I still think England should blame themselves for failing. They played practically the entire second half and the extra time with 10 players, fending of 11 Portugese footballers. They should've kept their cool at the penalty shoot-out.