World Cup 2010!

[RAIDER]

Well i suppose both sets of US and England fans are in a state of shock

USA even though you went a goal down i still thought you would come back and win it all i can think of is that the African crowd was there 12th man . Overall the USA have got to play at the start of a game ,in the frame of mind ,like they do when there 1-0 down

England were a shambles and Germany throughly deserved to win . I personally hope they dont sack Capello for it was the players who let him down in this tournament very badly . He got us to the finals with ease and to me that doesnt make him a bad manager overnight .
England now have an ageing team and its time for a clear out and build

Argentina look good ,but the dark horses for me are Holland ,who are playing as a team in this world cup for once

The Spain v Portugal game on tuesday should be a cracker

[The Reservoir Dog]

OK. Where do I start.

England were a shambles. Regardless if that goal had stood we were played off the park.

Our players did nothing to enhance their reputations or justify the amount of money they earn. Rooney, Lampard, Gerrard etc have proved to us all that they are not world class as everyone seems to refer to them as. They have consistantly failed on the world stage.

As for Capello, I'm in two minds. He said that he will only pick players who are: 1. Playing regularly for their club. 2. Who are in form. 3. Will not take injured players.

Step forward Emile Hesky. Was not a regular starter for Aston Villa. Only scored 5 goals. Hardly form for an international striker.
Oh but hang on..... Rooney likes playing with him. Oh well, that's alright then. We can't upset Wayne can we????

Darren Bent. Scored 24 goals for Sunderland and didn't get a look in.

Then there's the injured players. Gareth Barry. Hardly a world beater but Capello was insistsnt that we be part of the squad. Clearly not fully fit and clearly not good enough at this level.
As much as I like Ledley King and I believe when fit he is our best central defender he should have gone because of his persistant knee problems. He only lasted 45 mins against the USA and then came off injured.

The decision to bring Jamie Carragher after he had retired from international football was mindnumbing and showed the lack of depth of any good players. And that the fact he tried to get Paul Scholes at the 11th hour says it all.

Capello was brought in to change the way we played and the whole set up. The fact that Sven Goran Ericsson got further than the 2nd round on two occassion means that unfortunately I believe that Capello will be asked to leave which will be unfair because the players have let him down badly.

I think he should be given another chance to try and redeem himself for the European Championships and learn from the mistakes from this World Cup.

[RAIDER]

my picks are these

Germany to beat Argentina ( i think the Germans will wind up the Argies and get them sent off ) and if it goes to penalaties the Germans always win

Spain to beat Paraguay
Holland to beat Brazil ... yes i know but i just have a feeling Hollands going to win the competition

Uraguay to beat Ghana

[Davyjones]

my picks are these

Germany to beat Argentina ( i think the Germans will wind up the Argies and get them sent off ) and if it goes to penalaties the Germans always win

Spain to beat Paraguay
Holland to beat Brazil ... yes i know but i just have a feeling Hollands going to win the competition

Uraguay to beat Ghana

I agree with all those picks, Raider. The only one I have slight reservations about is the Holland-Brazil match. I think Holland has a slight edge, especially with Arjen Robben back, but Brazil is such a good team that it makes it a tough call. Got some good matches coming up!!

C'mon Spain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[The Reservoir Dog]

I fancy Holland too but I think this game will go to extra time.

Extra time for Argentina v Germany as well and have been changing my mind on this one everyday. Right now I'm going for an Argentina win.

Spain to ease past Paraguay.

Again I'm going for a draw for Uruguay v Ghana with Uruguay winning on penalties.

[RAIDER]

Well Holland beat the mighty Brazil ( as i predicted ) and sorry they must surely be in the final now after Uraguay just scrapping through against Ghana ,and how unlucky were they missing that penalty with seconds to spare !!!

I cant wait for the Argentina v Germany game later today

[Davyjones]

Germany 4- Argentina 0? I thought Germany would win, but not by such a large margin. The Spain-Paraguay match was crazy in the second half!! 2 penalties within, what, 1-2 minutes of each other? Both were stopped!!! What a frantic last few minutes that was! But my team got through, so I'm happy!!!

Semis are all set now then! Uruguay-Netherlands and Spain-Germany!!! A rematch of the Euro 2008 final!! Who you guys got??

La Furia Roja!!!!!!!

[RAIDER]

Davy

I fancy the obvious on this game
Holland to beat Uraguay ( Holland are at last playing as a team and Uraguay are going to be knackered after the Ghana game )

Germany to beat Spain ...( Germany are on a roll now and i really think Spain will be on the defensive scared of a counter attack which is not their natural game )

[Advnt05]

I'm going against the octopus and going with Germany. Spain looks good early though.

[Davyjones]

La Furia Roja!!!!!! The last 15 minutes was gut wrenching for me, to put it mildly! Nobody marking Puyol on the header!! Next up: The Orange!! I hope we can do it again!!!

[RAIDER]

What happened to Germany last night ...No show ....However they were beaten by the better team by far ...A good game ..

Ok i am going for a Holland win with the score of 2-1....
I have said for ages that i have a feeling they will win the competition as at last a dutch team is actually playing as one ....


Lets hope its a good final on Sunday

[Davyjones]

I'm going, of course, for a Spain win! I rarely guess on scores and I won't change that here. I think Spain's midfield and control will be the key. And I'm hoping Torres (Liverpool's #9!!!) will finally break his duck and score during this match. I think it will be a good final, but maybe that's because my team's in it!

Good luck to both teams!!

[The Reservoir Dog]

I'm going for 2-1 Spain.

I don't want Arjen Robben getting a winners medal. He is a disgrace to the game with his diving and play acting.

[EPCOT84]

Congrats to Spain but I have to say it was full of sloppy play. Anyway, time to tuck away the Vuvuzelas for awhile..

[Davyjones]

La Furia Roja!!!! Congrats to Spain!! The Dutch looked like they wanted to try to bully Spain into losing today, but luckily that didn't work!! The better team won today!! Thank the stars I picked them to win it all at the beginning of the tourney.

By the way, what was up with De Jong's flying kick into Alonso's chest? Why wasn't he sent off??!?!?

Can't wait for World Cup 2014!!!!!!

[RAIDER]

Congrats to Spain as well, the better team won by far even though i was secretly hoping for penalties

I just hope FIFA learn from this world cup and bring in goal line technolgy and punish players for diving .

[The Reservoir Dog]

Thankfully Spain won. The Dutch were very disappointing even though they had the better chances. If they had just played football we would have had a better game and a couple of goals.

After the two exciting semi finals and the 3rd/4th play off, this game was pretty dull in comparison.

Well Done Spain

[Davyjones]

I'm going to miss the World Cup. Thank God there's always SOME football being played all year round.

Euro 2012, anyone?

[RAIDER]

I'm going to miss the World Cup. Thank God there's always SOME football being played all year round.

Euro 2012, anyone?

My monies on the Germans for that competition already

Dont worry Davy ...The prem league starts in 4 weeks time

[BigBaloo]

Was anything done special at the World Showcase during the games? Would be kind of cool if the games had been broadcast there.....