The World Cup Thread

No offense Slon, the Frenh themselves consider this bunch of clowns undefendable. They got their sorry asses kicked out and it was about time. They do not represent the French people anyway. These guys were yobs turned into spoiled rockstars, not players, they do not represent the team spirit , fair play, respect and the will to win of the Vice world champions of 2006 or the World champions of 1998. This is what happens when you put scum in a field with a bad coach. They do not embarass the country, they embarras themselves and thos ewho sent them to S.A. I hope they will be ashamed of their poor performance for the rest of their days. They killed the hopes of an entire generation of children . Good riddance, may their be large sweeping and let's start again with a new generation the French can be proud of.

 

At least the only place the French can go from here is Up...

 

Looks like Ray called Group B correctly. Argentina and South Korea move on.

 

The French press:

The French press have been predictably scathing today following Les Bleus' humiliating first-round exit at the World Cup.

The media have accepted they have become the "laughing stock" as their campaign floundered on and off the pitch and most have hailed France's World Cup exit and the end of the Raymond Domenech era as a relief.

Liberation's front page bore the headline "And again bravo!" followed by the line "Beaten 2-1 by the South Africans, Les Bleus are out of the World Cup. The tragi-comedy is finally over".

Inside, the daily newspaper screamed "And 1...and 2...and 23 zeros" as they played on the tag-line the 1998 World Cup winners, while they also went on to remind people that France were only in South Africa thanks to Thierry Henry's handball in their play-off victory against the Republic of Ireland.

"Vae Victis. (Woe to the vanquished ones)," read an article. "After all, this team that have just flopped miserably started by cheating."

Regional newspapers Sud-Ouest and La Provence were both delighted the misery was over, with the former proclaiming: "Rarely would defeat have been welcomed with so much relief. It would have been better if Les Bleus had never gone to South Africa."

La Provence's front page screamed: "It's over and so much the better" followed by a look to the future and the Laurent Blanc era with the words "Calamitous on the pitch like off it, Les Bleus have to move onto rebuilding".

Sports daily L'Equipe, which bore the headline "The end of a world", were also looking ahead as they urged the government "to go to the end of their powers so that the FFF (French Football Federation) is not any more in the hands of dummies".

Le Progres did not mince their words as their front page simply said "Bye dummies!"

Le Journal de la Haute-Marne was almost as dismissive as they announced "Failing to give good performances on the pitch, the French players still achieved a good feat: becoming the laughing stock of the entire world".

 

I will tell you how they will be welcomed by those who they betrayed as soon as have the news. I wish I could be sad, sorry embarrassed, I am even beyond that.

Germany Ghana today! Germany needs 1-0 or they are out too....

 

Apparently the French Coach refused to shake hands at the end of the match. Real classy!

And Skip, you are thinking too far ahead! USA/Algeria and England/Slovenia are the early games today! HUGE games (especially for England) . Its hard to decide which one to watch!

 

Forget about the French coach , the only sorrow I have about him now is that I have to pay for his future unemployment benefits.

Good call about England, they seem to be in chaotic mood too now and need to score if they do'nt want to sit next to the French in the same plane (with the Germans too? )

 

Both are important games. I might try and see if I can stream both side-by-side. May or may not work but I think I will start with the England/Slovenia game. Damn you, rules making the final group games occur at same time!

 

I'll be heading home from work to watch the England game soon. I think I shall watch it while peeping through my fingers and hiding behind the sofa. Not to mention drinking plenty of beer to numb the resulting pain.

No prediction from me this time.

 

England starting XI: David James; Glen Johnson, Matthew Upson, John Terry, Ashley Cole; James Milner, Frank Lampard, Gareth Barry, Steven Gerrard; Wayne Rooney, Jermain Defoe ... why lampard? nearly time for finding out..

 

Oh well the dice are cast now, let us wait for the results.

 

My dad is skimping out of work to go watch it. Meanwhile I will be stuck here watching it on my PC.

Upson is an interesting choice - not what I would call a Veteran like Garragher, and certainly a very BIG game to be getting his first start. Defoe is the only GOOD change...much better then Heskey or Crouch.

 

has anyone noticed the absence of most vuvezelas in the england game! traditional terrace noise! mostly, bliss..

I spoke too soon, engalnd score and the b.....y things start blowing to annoy us! me thinks...

 

Certainly less of the annoying things, but certainly still there. I will be so happy in 4 years when, watching the WC, it'll be nice and peaceful! English are halfway there now,w another 45 minutes in which anything can happen.

 

How about that for a goal...92nd minute. The USA certainly deserved the win, another disallowed goal early on (clearly onside) so finally a little karma.

 

will it be germany v england on sunday, last 16..?

 

As the US, you want Germany to win today...rather play the any of the others over Germany next round.

 

Oh noooo.....

Nervy Germany turns to English octopus oracle - Yahoo! News

World Cup match with Ghana on Wednesday, Germany has turned to an English-born octopus called Paul with a knack for correctly predicting winners.

"For the European Championship in 2008 Paul had a success rate of more than 80 percent for the German games," Tanja Munzig, a spokeswoman for Sea Life in Oberhausen in western Germany where the eight-legged oracle lives, told AFP.

"And for this World Cup, he has had a 100-percent success rate so far."

Two plastic boxes, one with a German flag and one with their opponent's, are lowered into Paul's tank, each with a tasty morsel of food inside. The box which Paul opens first is adjudged to be his predicted winner.

For Wednesday's crunch game, he chose the box with the Germany flag. He correctly predicted Germany would beat Australia in their opening Group D match and that they would lose to underdogs Serbia last week.

The mollusc medium has to be right because if Germany lose, they will endure their first-ever World Cup exit in the group stage.

It is uncertain whether Paul can be trusted, however, having been born at Sea Life in Weymouth, England -- Germany's arch enemy when it comes to football.

 

The result was never in doubt...was it??


Supporting Ghana for tonight's match