Figo and Cafu are class. Nedved is a freak. There was at least 3 times during that match where I thought to myself "D'oh!! He's broken now, he can't get up from that!" And then he'd run all the way down the pitch to recieve ANOTHER pass. Guy is awesome.
If you look at his success in the world cup, then It will be hard to find anyone with his success level, try and name another player who has played in the final of every world cup they have entered!!, not a bad record.
He's not on good form like most of the Brazilian team, which can only be good news for England .
As much as I'd like to see it I don't see England making it this year. Not really big on Crouch being on the team. Also Owen/Rooney are not at 100%. I think the only shot they have is if Rooney comes back healthy and goes nuts like he did with his first go around with the team. They rely too heavily on set pieces. They need Rooney, Gerrand and company to create on the fly. Set piece scoring is nice, but you can't always count on getting a favorable spot for a free kick.
It'll all depend on how Rooney will do, as to how well England will peform, maybe his comeback can take the pressure of Owen and get him back to full form.
With regards to Gerrard maybe dropping Lampard to the bench and playing Carrick or Carragher alongside him could get him to the form he's showed for Liverpool for the last few seasons. At least that way you have a player like Lampard to bring on rather the Hargreaves!!
Anyone catch the last 12 mins of the Saudi vs. Tunisia match? I walked in the conference room and put it on to see the score. Ended up watching the rest of it. Last 12 mins was crazy. All tied up, Saudi brings in their "hero" and he ends up giving them the lead on his 2nd touch. Tunisia looked out of it and then ends up scoring in the 2nd minute of extra time. Great finish to a game that I thought would have been boring as hell.
I didn't see it all, but what I did see was pretty exciting, and the first two goals especially were superb finishes.
Germany v. Poland was the expected battle of the Divers 'n' Writhers, but with an exciting new variation: The Squeal! Not only do they execute a perfect triple pike and salko while contorting their face into a rictus of agony, but they have added a simultaeneous high-pitched squeal, which can be heard even over the noise of a sixty thousand capacity crowd!
Germany had clearly learned a lot from their first game, and didn't try to hold a high line with their tortoise-paced defence. Which nullified Poland's entire tactical masterplan at a stroke. The result was that both sides sat back, and the game was nicely stretched. Which could have made for a really good game, except that Poland had for some inexplicable reason decided that they were happy with a draw. Presumably they just rather inconveniently forgot the fact that they had lost to Ecuador in their opening game.
A late, late goal by Oliver Neuville means that Germany are almost certainly through.
just read the papers today. sven independant medical team approved rooneys to play tonight against T&T. would be great to see him play but honestly i think they should rest him tonight and see how they do. if they dont beat T&T then they should play him against sweeden.
OK, but I'd be concerned for Germany's sake as he seemed to be their biggest creative force, making a lot of good runs, and its not a good sign that your biggest threat is your left back.
sven is just so stupid. neville is out with a hamstring problem aswell so im guessing carragher will take his place. carragher is a good player tho so its not too bad. only 7 1/2 hours left
i still think wright-phylips should be on the squad!