World Cup - Germany 2006 - we're off !

[johnny]

You wanna know what's coming to Chelsea next year ? Almost a completely new team.

[Memnoch]

The US really were a rabble in defence - they had no coordination, no communication and they allowed themselves to be slapped around like a pinata. Lewis had a shocker on left wing, he was turned inside out on about six or seven occasions. And Beasley and Convey were anonymous, I don't think I remember them making a single attacking move or putting pressure on their markers. As for the central defenders, Onyewu was out of his depth - his positioning was poor and he lacked a lot of composure. It seemed like every Czech cross found a Czech head, even with Koller off the field, while most of the US crosses found the keeper. I felt sorry for Keller - he's not a bad keeper but there was nothing he could've done about any of those goals.

And the problem with the US is that they lack a quality finisher - they don't have a bloke who can draw defences and threaten the goal. I think Cech was only tested about three times - once by Reyna far out, and twice by Eddie Johnson, who at least added some spark when he came on. Donovan was a disappointment, he did SFA. They were talking about having a swagger before the game, maybe they started believing their own press about how good they were? Never good to underestimate any team, especially a team as good at countering as the Czechs are.

Funny - I'm watching ESPN now and Alexi Lalas, Eric Wynalda and Co are all ripping into the US team, saying it was a rubbish performance, they were a disgrace to the US, etc. LOL. Bit harsh. The reality is, they're in a bloody tough group. Italy's defence is even better than the Czech Republic's. [img]graemlins/lol.gif[/img]

[Memnoch]

Originally posted by johnny: You wanna know what's coming to Chelsea next year ? Almost a completely new team.

Abramovich is really starting to loosen the pursestrings, eh. His earlier investments were generally for players who were good but not superstar calibre at the time - Duff, Essien, Drogba (at the time), Makelele, Cole (Crespo the exception) but now he's really opened the chequebook, with blokes like Shevchenko and Ballack. They've got the Champions League in their sights...

[johnny]

Italy looks kinda shaky.

[NagaSaki]

Yup, its Portugal - Angola all over again. I cant see how they're playing so mediocre against such mediocre teams. But viewing wise it hasn't been too bad.

[Ivelliis]

Onyewu...Boro are interested in him. From that performance I wasn't impressed. Get some more local lads from the academy, they seem to work wonders!

Not a bad set of matches today. USA v Czech wasn't the best but watchable just. Aussies were good, and Italy ain't that bad.

Watched them all so far

[johnny]

Seems to me Ghana just got robbed from a penalty.

[Memnoch]

They did, but I suppose they only had themselves to blame as the same bloke took a dive in the penalty box a couple minutes earlier, he was lucky not to get carded.

Anyway, Italy score another GGGOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL

This is the difference between the sides. Italy had a chance at goal and took it. Their finishing is at a different level to Ghana's. Poor defensive effort from Kuffour and Kingston - I knew he'd get caught out by charging out, but to be fair to him he was in no-mans land and probably would've got beaten either way.

[Memnoch]

Michael Essien must've taken about 10 shots at goal during this match, but most of them were low percentage shots from outside the box. Ghana just don't have the finishers to trouble Buffon. Though their pace really troubled the geriatric Italian defence, which got caught out on a number of occasions. Cannavaro et al really should be checked into an aged-care home. If not for Nesta the scoreline might've been different.

But Italy deserved their win - good counterattacking and scrambling, and they took their opportunities when they came.

[Glycerine_74]

Originally posted by johnny: quote: Originally posted by wellard: Bold prediction Johnny, the USA are ranked 4th in the fifa listings IIRC

Yeah ? Based on what ? Victories against Panama and hickville united ? If the USA is ranked number 4, there's something seriously wrong with FIFA's list. When does the US ever play against REAL opponents, such as Italy, France, Argentina, or Brazil ? Hardly ever to my knowledge, if they would play a few more matches outside their region, they wouldn't be anywhere near the top 20. [/QUOTE]It strikes me as strange that the US would be ranked anywhere in the top 10 or 20. Anyone who lives in the States will tell you that soccer is just not a big deal here. It's viewed mainly as a "kiddie" sport, at least here in the Midwest. Children's soccer is really big for some reason, yet you don't see much about it at the high school, college, or pro levels. I guess it's because we have the NFL, hell I don't know. I really couldn't care less about either to tell you the truth.

glyc