So... no World Cup thread yet? (also featuring TTLG fantasy world cup game) - by D'Arcy
Jonesy on 9/6/2006 at 21:28
USA should at least make it to quarter finals-we're ranked #5 in the world apparently?
Paz on 9/6/2006 at 21:29
Looks like I rated Ecuador as "Not bad at WC 2002". I'll update that to "Not bad at WC 2006"! That second goal was all about Super Eddie Mendez, but won't get me any points because some ex Crystal Palace fatty got the penultimate touch :(
Poland looked somewhat shambolic. Why have they switched to 4-5-1 ten minutes before playing their first World Cup match? This seems to have been an error.
Also, I want to kill everyone involved with ITV. Shall we learn about Poland or Ecuador before the game? No, let's talk about England for half an hour. Their coverage is horribly, unashamedly wretched in almost every single aspect. To a man, their commentary team are utter, utter wankers. Taking every opportunity to tenuously link every single aspect of every single moment of EVERY SINGLE GAME to some vague aspect of English football. Taking every moment to hypocritically decry any hint of dubious play, whilst brushing any English "gamesmanship" ('cos it's never cheating, obviously) under the carpet as swiftly as possible. Taking any chance they can to make sub-racist remarks about foreign sides and generally acting like complete cretins.
Clive Tyldesley - FUCK OFF
Peter Drury - FUCK OFF
David Pleat - FUCK OFF
Gareth Southgate - .. you seem to have no personality, but are harmless. You can stay.
Arrgh!
And yet, I still managed to enjoy the game. Bless you, the World Cup!
Quote:
USA should at least make it to quarter finals-we're ranked #5 in the world apparently?
Possibly - but ignore FIFA rankings; they are compiled seemingly at random.
SD on 9/6/2006 at 21:35
Quote Posted by Jonesy
USA should at least make it to quarter finals-we're ranked #5 in the world apparently?
I wouldn't read too much into the world rankings, Jones. That said, USA are still a good outfit.
HOWEVER, they have been unfortunate enough to land in one of the tougher groups. Italy and the Czech Republic are among the better teams at the tournament, while Ghana are also a capable side. With only 2/4 teams going through to the next round, I'm sorry to say I don't fancy your chances of qualifying for the second phase :(.
Paz: everything you said about ITV is right.
Dainem on 9/6/2006 at 21:43
Quote Posted by Jonesy
USA should at least make it to quarter finals-we're ranked #5 in the world apparently?
Sorry, but you will never make it to the next round. In your group you have Italy and the Czech Republic, and both teams are much better than the US Soccer Team.
And forget the FIFA Ranking.
Dainem
Ajare on 9/6/2006 at 21:50
ITV are fucking cunts, and worse yet they have have advert breaks during halftime. I PAY MY LICENSE FEE FOR A REASON YOU COCKSUCKERS I DON'T WANT TO WATCH FOOTBALL ON YOUR CHANNEL NOW SEND ME SOME MONEY AND LEAVE THE PLANET. And take the Sun along with you, vielen dank.
On the bright side, Motson wasn't commentating for the BBC. Anyway, pretty good first day, I thought, even if Deco and Baros are injured and I can't change my team. :(
I'm not expecting much tomorrow. '98 aside we (England, natch) haven't won our first game in a major tournament since...'82 I think.
D'Arcy on 9/6/2006 at 21:56
Deco isn't injured. He'll play on Sunday.
Paz on 9/6/2006 at 21:57
Please stop jinxing the Italian national team - they're unstable enough as it is D:
The back four for the Ghana game could be Oddo, Cannavaro, Materazzi and Grosso ... which is just frightening (not in a good way). Gattuso is injured too. Totti is obviously not going to be fully fit. Someone like De Rossi is going to have to STEP UP.
Schattentänzer on 9/6/2006 at 22:28
Mute your TV and find a radio station that broadcasts the game. I found that's much more entertaining, because radio guys usually put all they have into their comentaries, as well as spicing up dull parts of the match with hilarious descriptions of what's going on with 20 words per second. Turns almost every game into a drama.
Beats the dull droning of TV commentators in any case.
Super extra points for finding an italian station when Italy plays.
Paz on 9/6/2006 at 23:23
This is good advice (which I have experimented with, sometimes), but unfortunately the radio and tv always seem to be out of synch. So you either get the radio going GOOOOAAAAAL!! when someone is taking a corner, or they're hilariously behind the play and it's a bit confusing.
I'm tempted to mute ITV completely, but watching in complete silence is a bit eerie. Music could work, but I want crowd noise .. I wish there was a "just crowd noise" option.
In fact, I think the BBC are offering that with their digital service. You can go for commentary / BBC radio commentary (presumably correctly synched) / no commentary. The BBC commentary is usually a bit more acceptable though, so I don't need to avoid it!
Ulukai on 9/6/2006 at 23:35
I can't say I was too impressed with whoever was providing the commentary for Germany vs Costa Rica on the BBC this evening.
I recall thinking several times during the match that I wish he'd just stop talking about beer steins and giving us random facts about how much beer is brewed in Munich each year!
