Discussion The Football/Soccer Thread

[Mendes]

That's terrible Ichi... Violence in football sucks... makes me not want to go to great classics in our rival's stadiums as well.

What was violent as well was Italy's win over Portugal (3-1) in Switzerland, as a preparation match for the Euro. I feared Italy was the only nation we couldnt win over even in 1000 straight matches. Too organized, too efficient, too Italy for us. World champs for a reason.

 

[Tachyon]

Re: Italy vs Portugal

Forza Italy haha. As expected, Portugal was pretty much helpless. Italy deserved their win.

 

[rykarreolacr]

Italy - Portugal was a great match, Very entertaining and while a friendly match I was very happy to see that both Italy and Portugal went all out, playing nicely and with fair play. The fans were also fantastic.

I was also very happy to see Italy play so well with young players that have barely any experience internationally and are not that famous. I have no complains at all for Italy, and I hope they will keep this level during the Euro as well. Great match for Pirlo, Oddo, Di Natale and the goal keeper Amelia.

Congrats to Portugal for playing well and for never giving up. Thanks for a great match! Quaresma was great!


On the other hand, Capello managed his first win with a great Rooney. Looking forward to more matches of this new English team.

 

[Virusbluemage]

Re: Italy vs Portugal

I don't like the Italy team but I have to agree with you. Their keeper was great, and their 3rd goal was just amazing.

 

[ghrghr]

Amelia is a great keeper, but Italy still has Buffon, who is one of the world's best. I think that as soon as Buffon recovers he'll be the starting keeper again.

Did someone watch the Brazil x Ireland game? 1x0 was a pretty bad result against the Ireland team, they don't even have a manager right now.

 

[Virusbluemage]

Well, Portugal's keeper just wasn't that great.

And I think the European teams are in better form than the South American teams right now as they are preparing for the Next Euro Cup, I don't find the result to be too surprising(especally since Brazil played without Ronaldo or Rivaldo)

---

Oh, and did anyone watch the match between Mexico and U.S.A? Mexico dominated the match but it ended in a 2 - 2 draw. U.S.A really does have a great keeper.

 

[Epul]

Bad week for Manchester United........ they lost to city rival Manchester City 2-0 .....United definitely didn't look their best in that game which is a disappointment considering it was the 50th anniversary of the munich disaster.....
If arsenal wins today, they will be 5 points clear of Man utd..... So I'm hoping that Blackburn beat arsenal today...

 

[Imperium]

2:1 epul, Carrick got a goal close to the end . But you have to admit...City were the better team for most of the match...United seemed dead until the end, in which i think they realized, that maybe...just maybe...they would lose to City at old trafford for the first time, in a very very long time. Now we are able to get 5pts clear (the match is starting around 8pm...stupid weekday matches >.>) . But did anybody see chelsea v liverpool...the most boring match i watched in a long time. Honestly. I expected chelsea to try and at least close the gap between them and Man U...but they didnt even try...

And did anyone watch the African cup of nations final. I was watching the whole tournament and i have to say, it was damn exciting . It seems to just be getting better and better. But the final was a...disappointment. I was rooting for Cameroon and eto'o, but egypt were to so smart...eto'o was a lone striker and both the centre backs were covering him. He only got the ball like a couple of times! But anyway, egypt won. 1-0. And this is the 6th time they won. Retaining the title for another 2 years...(but the weird thing is, nobody expected them to get to the finals...even if they were the champions >.>). But hey, its over, and now all the players can come back (finally ).

 

[Epul]

Oh yeah, carrick got a goal, my bad.... how did i make that kind of mistake..... i even watched the whole game.....
Watched the Liverpool vs Chelsea game.... lost interest after just after 20 minutes..... Chelsea isn't as exciting as they used to be.... (maybe after all the african players return they will play better....) and Liverpool, under Benitez, they always play negative footballl, which makes them a very very boring team.

as a side note, i think it is amazing that egypt won the african cup of nations for the 2nd time in a row.

 

[Silhouette]

And did anyone watch the African cup of nations final. I was watching the whole tournament and i have to say, it was damn exciting . It seems to just be getting better and better. But the final was a...disappointment. I was rooting for Cameroon and eto'o, but egypt were to so smart...eto'o was a lone striker and both the centre backs were covering him. He only got the ball like a couple of times! But anyway, egypt won. 1-0. And this is the 6th time they won. Retaining the title for another 2 years...(but the weird thing is, nobody expected them to get to the finals...even if they were the champions >.>). But hey, its over, and now all the players can come back (finally ).

Congrats to Egypt & hard luck to Cameroon.

The Egyptians deserved to win considering their results through out the cup, 5 of the Egyptian players team were chosen in the African all star team...this is skill not just luck or smart. The total price of the Ivory Coast players is 150+ million dollars which can buy every single local club in Egypt while there is only one or two Egyptian players playing in foreign clubs and their coach is not a world famous one like the Cameroon's, the Egyptian coach is actually a local Egyptian coach. This is why no one saw them as a real threat. Hooray for team work, determination and skills.

 

[Ichimaru Gin n Tonic]

And one more thing to add. Egypt holds the record for the African Cup Nation winner. They won six times, while Cameroon won 4 times. That gotta count for something. But how come only a handful of their players are famous outside Egypt?

 

[Silhouette]

It beats me Ichimaru, but I hear a rumor that some Spanish clubs are interested in Mohamed Abo Treika, I hope to see him playing with professionals because he got what it takes.

 

[Imperium]

^ I just hope some on is also scouting hadary. He is a really stunning keeper. Everything about him is true class.

Congrats to Egypt & hard luck to Cameroon.

The Egyptians deserved to win considering their results through out the cup, 5 of the Egyptian players team were chosen in the African all star team...this is skill not just luck or smart. The total price of the Ivory Coast players is 150+ million dollars which can buy every single local club in Egypt while there is only one or two Egyptian players playing in foreign clubs and their coach is not a world famous one like the Cameroon's, the Egyptian coach is actually a local Egyptian coach. This is why no one saw them as a real threat. Hooray for team work, determination and skills.

True, even if i was supporting Cameroon i have to admit they were out-classed on all fronts.

I was also wondering if anybody heard about this. Its about the premiership clubs playing premier league games abroad. I am biased because i live in england and get to actually see the matches. So my view is probably the same as everyone in this country (hell no >.>). But i was wondering what others thought? Should clubs consider playing in countries other than their home one?

(btw, cant wait for Arsenal v man u )

 

[Mendes]

I was also wondering if anybody heard about this. Its about the premiership clubs playing premier league games abroad. I am biased because i live in england and get to actually see the matches. So my view is probably the same as everyone in this country (hell no >.>). But i was wondering what others thought? Should clubs consider playing in countries other than their home one?

(btw, cant wait for Arsenal v man u )

Well, I must say it'd be like a dream come true to watch a premier league match here in Portugal... so I'd love if that actually happened. Still, there are other factors to it. The players will have to travel to other countries more frequently, and that's definitively more tiring than playing almost exclusively in one country. Specially if the host is outside Europe, with extremely different time gaps. I honestly doubt this can go further than an idea

 

[Epul]

I was also wondering if anybody heard about this. Its about the premiership clubs playing premier league games abroad. I am biased because i live in england and get to actually see the matches. So my view is probably the same as everyone in this country (hell no >.>). But i was wondering what others thought? Should clubs consider playing in countries other than their home one?
(btw, cant wait for Arsenal v man u )

I think it is a great idea. But there will a possibility that the title will be decided outside of england and I think it would really suck if the title decider match is played outside of england.

I can't wait for Arsenal v man u game too!!

 

[Mendes]

Did you just see what I saw? Man United massacred Arsenal for 4-0, with amazing performances from Nani, Evra and specially, Anderson. I think both Nani and Anderson should be in the initial 11 against Lyon. Their performances today showed all their confidence and shape! Cant w8 for the CL xD

 

[Epul]

Yep Man Utd was awesome!!!!! That's without Ronaldo, Giggs and Tevez playing.
Anyway, Arsenal couldn't field their best eleven so it might have turned out differently if they could field their best eleven. This gonna make the Man utd v Lyon game and Arsenal v AC Milan game really interesting........

The one player that really surprise me in that game is Fletcher. He had a very very good game.
Nani definitely had a good game. But, he is somewhat inconsistent.... he can play brilliantly in one game and be terrible in another....
Anderson is the more consistent performer. As for Evra, he reminds me of Roberto Carlos.

 

[Imperium]

Manchester in all honestly played better football. We had i think one chance on goal for the whole match. But the problem throughout was the lack of discipline we showed and the atrociousness at set pieces . Also "horrid hoyte", I had to cover my face when that guy was defending...damn, damn damn (the first two goals i blame solely on him). Now we have ac milan next, although i hear that ronaldo and pato are injured? (is there any truth in that?) But that comes nowhere near our injury list. That is 11 players!

 

[rykarreolacr]

Imp, Pato and Ronaldo are indeed injured.

 

[Mendes]

Yeah... poor Ronaldo, another dire injury and he's out for at least 9 months. I wouldnt be surprised if he retired...
Regarding Man Utd vs Arsenal, I agree it wasnt just a good performance by man utd, but also a very weak performance of some Arsenal players, specially Bendtner (he was only screwing up), Traore (he still has a lot to improve... Nani was passing trough him like butter) and Hoyte (lol). Arsenal's facing a troublesome injury wave, and they dont have as many valuable options as man utd, chelsea or even liverpool, so I guess they'll loose some points in the near future. Still, I'd love Arsenal to win over Milan. Seriously, if there's a team I dont want Porto to face in CL, that'd be Milan so... Go Arsenal!