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6485. vonKreedon - 6/16/2010 3:23:13 PM Oh yeah, I watched and boy did we (the US) luck out. A draw against England is a very good result, but I can't say that we earned it. 6486. vonKreedon - 6/17/2010 9:33:32 PM Sacre Blue! Mexico thumps les Bleu 2-0! 6487. vonKreedon - 6/18/2010 4:58:36 PM USA pulls out tough nail biting tie against Slovenia. Be watching the England-Algeria match with renewed interest. I'm pretty sure that we must win when we play Algeria or we're out. 6488. alistairconnor - 6/19/2010 12:58:18 PM Anything's possible in your group, vK...
Last night, having drinks on the balcony, we heard a lot of car horns hooting. Did Algeria win something? I thought. Who were they playing yesterday?... England? ... surely not!
England is in mourning, Algeria salvaged some pride... Slovenia being the only one with a win, all four still have some chance of qualifying.
Though Algeria would need to beat the USA...
As for France! If any of you remember 1998... the moment when I decided I was French... well I think I'm a Citizen of the World again. 6489. vonKreedon - 6/19/2010 7:47:59 PM Oh yeah I remember '98, and then the Euro Cup win in '00, which I watched in a hotel bar in Chamonix with a highly motivated crowd evenly split between Italians and French. 6490. vonKreedon - 6/19/2010 8:52:28 PM More bad news for les Bleus:
France striker Nicolas Anelka has been sent home from the World Cup after verbally insulting coach Raymond Domenech during the Mexico game.
From l'Equipe: Anelka : «J'accepte mon exclusion»
6491. alistairConnor - 6/20/2010 3:09:24 PM NEW ZEALAND 1-0 ITALY!
Five minutes into the game.
Won't last long, but let's immortalize the moment... 6492. alistairconnor - 6/20/2010 3:58:42 PM Yeah it lasted about twenty minutes.
Still, 1-1 at half time is very respectable too.
That won't last either. 6493. alistairconnor - 6/20/2010 3:59:51 PM At half time in the NZ-Italy match, they cut to the French training ground, which is apparently the OK Corral.
They are still counting the dead, apparently.
Excuse me while I sneer. 6494. alistairconnor - 6/20/2010 6:05:00 PM NEW ZEALAND 1 - 1 ITALY
This is historic. Easily the biggest result in the history of NZ soccer.
It's true that NZ had both a height and weight advantages, and when trajectories converged, the Italian tended to bounce off (and roll about theatrically on the carpet, of course...)
And without the foolish shirt-pulling in the first half, which gave Italy their penalty, it would have been 1-0. That's right, Italy never managed to score an actual goal.
I was disappointed that the Italians were not creative enough to find their way around NZ's blocking tactics. At first I thought they were being condescending, but they genuinely had no answer. And it's not as if NZ played purely defensive : they had a couple of the better chances in the second half, and 2-1 to NZ would have been a plausible result.
Unfortunately, the symmetry of the group has been upset by Paraguay's win over Slovakia. This means that NZ would have to beat Paraguay to progress, and that looks frankly unlikely. They have been easily the best of the group, not brilliant but pragmatic.
On the other hand... if the last two matches are draws... that makes NZ and Italy equal second on three points. Then it's down to goals scored, I believe. And for the moment, NZ has two, Italy only one. 6495. bhelpuri - 6/21/2010 7:26:36 AM I've been disgusted by obvious fixes and referee biases all through the last two world cups (remember australia being robbed last time, against italy?) This one no different - for example, the denial of the third US goal against slovakia was simply scandalous. FIFA is thoroughly rotten.
6496. bhelpuri - 6/21/2010 7:28:46 AM Interesting that you're no longer "French", Connor. I find myself relying more on hyphens than ever before for my own self-identification. Never the dreaded "world citizen" tho, so help me Mahatma. 6497. alistairConnor - 6/21/2010 9:21:35 AM Oh yes I'm still French. The proof of this is that I don't hesitate to kick a man when he's down. Loyalty to a sports team is foreign to the French psyche.
As a New Zealander, on the other hand, it's my country right or wrong. I'm enjoying the schizophrenia.
I thoroughly agree about the third US goal. I missed the match, but the subtext is surely about preserving England's chances of finishing first in the group.
Counter-example : I was interested to see how intelligently Italy-NZ was refereed. It would have been easy, and in fact hard to criticize, if the ref had handed out fistfuls of yellow cards for the way the Kiwis brutalized the poor little Italians. But the fact is, most of them play in 2nd or 3rd division teams, or equivalent, where the game is much more physical, and they often seemed genuinely surprised to be whistled up for it.
I guess the match was not deemed significant enough to merit a "political" briefing for the ref...
It would be interesting to do a statistical analysis on this. How many matches unjustly lost by "dangerous" teams, because the opponent was protected by the ref? And how many "surprising upsets" by minor teams, in the absence of protection?
There's nothing surprising about the upsets. It's how sport works, when left to its own devices. 6498. alistairConnor - 6/22/2010 10:32:49 AM Ah les Bleus!
Rather frustrating, I have to avoid talking about football at work. Reminds me of the Rugby World Cup in 1999, when France eliminated the All Blacks... I was in NZ at the time, the entire nation was in mourning, and I had to keep biting my lip to keep from grinning.
Apparently a number of sponsors have had their logos taken off the team's gear... I was rather shocked on Sunday, I saw the grinning face of Nicolas Anelka on a bus shelter, advertising hamburgers. He'd disappeared by Monday.
My preferred outcome is that South Africa win tonight, and progress to the knockout rounds instead of France.
Furthermore, the entire squad of 22 players should be blackballed, i.e. ineligible for selection for the national team, for life (the coach is already finished).
I regret that the Roman punishment of decimation can not be applied in this case. 6499. vonKreedon - 6/22/2010 1:44:38 PM Hell of a way for Henri Thierry's international career to end, first the double handball against Ireland and now this clusterfuck. 6500. alistairConnor - 6/22/2010 3:35:59 PM Twenty minutes into the game :
South Africa 1-0 France.
And France are down to ten men.
Looks like they are doing the decent thing...
Collective suicide, to gift a double-digit score to the host nation.
That's uncharacteristically decent of them, but let's not speak ill of the dead... 6501. vonKreedon - 6/22/2010 5:02:00 PM Haha...well that's it for the French, 2-1 loss to South Africa. And Uruguay beats Mexico 1-0. Unfortunately for the hosts, assuming I'm reading the standings correctly, Mexico still gets to go through instead of SA on their goal differential. 6502. alistairConnor - 6/22/2010 6:01:04 PM Yeah, France couldn't even get the dramatic exit right. 6503. vonKreedon - 6/23/2010 4:55:53 PM Whoo-Hoo!!!!
That was about as perfect nail biting match imaginable, right to Donovan being the one that scored the goal in stoppage time. Oh man, my nerves.
USA defeats Algeria 1-0, wins group! 6504. alistairConnor - 6/23/2010 5:10:36 PM yes, this gives them the privilege of meeting the second-place team from Group D, which will probably be Serbia. Tough, but not impossible!
Meanwhile, England beat Slovenia, ensuring second place, and therefore probably Germany in the first knockout round. That could be the most interesting match-up.
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