World Football Thread IX - Weltmeisterschaft Ausgabe

[Locutus]

They don't 'always' breeze through qualifiers. On the last two WCs they lucked out on having extremely easy qualifier groups, but other than than they haven't qualified for any major tournament since at least the 1980s (they never qualified for an EC).

[alva]

Originally posted by Locutus


Can't be moist on the pitch as there is none, can't be shoes as every player has different ones and different types have been tried. The grass quality looks great on the surface, so that's not it either. It's probably because it's new grass: in most if not all cases it was placed just days before the matches started, it's probably not really solidly in place under the surface yet. * snip *

It's been there for a couple of weeks and guess where it was made, indeed: Holland!

[Locutus]

Originally posted by alva


It's been there for a couple of weeks and guess where it was made, indeed: Holland!

No, Limburg

[Locutus]

Originally posted by SpencerH
A dutch pot calling the kettle black.

The difference is we know what we're talking about

[alva]

Originally posted by Locutus


Trying to reason with the English about football is impossible, don't even bother to try. They're also absolutely convinced just about everyone in the world is a bunch of cheats and divers except them.* snip *

They also have a very slight tendency to overrate themselves and every individual English player.
That reminds me, what with the dutch being so humble??!! No arrogance, no cockyness...nothing. It's very eery, you're starting to look like us.

[Locutus]

Slight?

[MikeH]

Originally posted by Cort Haus
I wish Joey Cole would stop being so one-dimensional and play the simple one-two with Ashley Cole now and again. Ash keeps making the overlap,

Totally, what I said about that at half time was, if I was Ashley Cole I'd stop making that run, JC never passes it to him!

[MikeH]

Originally posted by Locutus
Trying to reason with the English about football is impossible, don't even bother to try. They're also absolutely convinced just about everyone in the world is a bunch of cheats and divers except them. In case of the Duth especially Robben and Van Nistelrooij seem to get a hard time. Some of that may be justified (Robben dived once today, which every Dutchman I've spoken or that was interviewed on tv strongly disapproved of) but funny enough they both picked up the habit in England...

Some of the English, not all. I just think Maradona scored a great goal. He was performing similar feats practically every week for his club. (And, after all who'd he go past, Terry 'F*cking' Butcher... TWICE!). And on the 'hand of god' how the hell did fatty Shilton let that tiny man outjump him? Maradona's hand was next to his head anyway, he could have headed it...

Re: Robben, Mourinho has always had a lot of divers in his teams. He is extremely hypocritical on that subject. (of course he is a dirty furriner... )

As to England divers, Owen's dived for two penalties against Argentina, one in '98 and the winner in '02 for instance. Joe Cole is also quite shocking and did a couple against Paraguay. Gerrard dived for a penalty in that friendly the other day.

[Sir Og]

Poland reminded me so much of the way Bulgaria plays sometimes.

[MikeH]

They didn't have a terrifying bug eyed bearded freak at right back though.

[reds4ever]

Mike, it's niether here nor there but no way would Maradonna have got to that ball with his head.

[MikeH]

ok you are probably right

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Hand_of_God_goal.jpg

But there's no way he should have been able to outjump Shilton like that anyway.

[Sir Og]

Trifon ivanov was CB

I mean that most of the time after a good qualifing, our team plays extremely boring and inadequate footbal at the group stages of the competition (with the notable exception of '94 of cours).

[alva]

Dude, my grandmother would have outjumped Shilton.

[Sir Og]

Hell even in '94 we had a Polish style performance in our first and last games of the tournament. Thrashed 3:0 by Nigeria at the start and then in the 3rd place match soundly beaten by Sweden (as always) 4:0.