Archive for June, 2006

Preview (Round of 8): Italy vs Ukraine

FIFA World Cup ItalyA superpower in football, Italy’s prospects for this game is not bright considering they have four dependable players sitting on the bench. After a stretched out game against Australia, they might ran out of fuel against Ukraine.

Defender Nesta is out because of an injury, Marco Materazzi is serving a one game ban today for a red card given against their match with Australia, midfielder Daniele De Rossi remains suspended and forward Vincenzo Iaquinta is still suffering muscle injury.

It is going to be a very difficult climb for Italy although they will be relying heavily on Francesco Totti to score the go ahead goals for the team.

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Oliver Sits Painfully

Oliver Kahn Germany World CupHave you seen the look in the face of Oliver Kahn during the World Cup competition even after winning a game? Media has not stopped going after the controversy between Oliver, Klinsmann and Lehmann about Jurgen’s decision to bench Oliver in favor of Jens.

Why doesn’t the Media Stop?

That’s a very good question which may be traced from the following reasons:

1. Jurgen gave no convincing explanation to Oliver about his choice
2. Oliver publicly declared that he cannot accept Jens to be better than him
3. Oliver doesn’t show any sign of happiness on the bench

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Preview (Round of 8): Germany vs Argentina

FIFA World Cup ArgentinaPeople are going to watch and see who among the two teams can outplay the other out of the group of 8. Argentina should definitely be feeling the pressure playing against the host nation who will be going in hordes shouting and cheering like barbarians raising the hearts of their country to unmatched proportions. Germany’s play game after game have improved dramatically both in offense and defense.

The hardest team to go up against is the team who has the 12th man by their side—German Fans.

The odds are against Argentina who is facing the leading goal scorer in the tournament—Miroslav Klose, the goalie who replaced the greatest goalie in 2002—Jens Lehmann, the coach who revolutionized and changed the way the traditional Germans play the game—Jurgen Klinsmann, Michael Ballack relentlessly sending one shot after the other towards the goal, winning all three matches—9 points in group stage, and dominating Sweden in the final 16, etc…

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Results (2nd Stage): Spain vs France

France Fans World Cup

France fans came in legions but celebrated as one after the final whistle sounded.

Spain enjoyed an early lead at the 28th minute when David Villa scored a spot kick which lasted for 13 minutes.

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Results (2nd Stage): Brazil vs Ghana

Brazil Ghana World Cup1. Ronaldo goal 2. Adriano goal. 3. Dida’s successive goal saves 4. Ze for the icing.

Ronaldo once again showed why he is the deadliest striker in the world by breaking into the history books once again as the highest goal scorer in FIFA World Cup Finals. He overtook Gerd Muller’s record to get his 15th goal in the 5th minute of the game.

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Preview (2nd Stage): Brazil vs Ghana

FIFA World Cup BrazilA superpower in football, Brazil is the heavy favorites to crush a newcomer named Ghana though impression is far from reality. Brazil is yet to show some dominating and convincing wins to solidify fans’ impression that Ghana is a walk in the park match.

How will Brazil win the game?—with lots of bruises.

Brazil have been impressive against Japan where they played their reserves except for Ronaldo who used that game to build his confidence and probably lose some fat.

If Brazil plays to their potential then they should have no problem advancing to the next round after this; but if not they will be going through a rough night against a hard hitting opponent as Ghana.

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Results (2nd Stage): Switzerland vs Ukraine

Ukraine Switzerland World Cup

Happiness vs Sadness. Relief vs Disbelief. Triumph vs Defeat.

Both teams were heavily matched who relied on their midfield strength to win the ball for a swift counterattack anchored on each team’s strikers. As such was the story of Switzerland – Ukraine match that saw them scoring not a single goal in 90 minutes of play.

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Results (2nd Stage): Italy vs Australia

Francesco Totti ItalyTime to go home. Francesco Totti drove a spot kick high into the net eight seconds from end of the game. A heart breaking loss for Australia who thought extra time is needed to decide the outcome of the game; defender Lucas Neill tackled down Fabio Grosso which left Spanish referee Luis Medina Cantalejo no choice but to point to the spot.

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Preview (2nd Stage): Italy vs Australia

FIFA World Cup ItalyA superpower in football, Italy is the heavy favorites to crush a newcomer named Australia who advanced to the next stage despite leading their opponents no more than 5 minutes. Call it luck, I call it Hiddink.

A perennial powerhouse or a newcomer—Powerhouse.

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Results (2nd Stage): England vs Ecuador

David Beckham England

Beckham unloaded the shot on the 60th minute that gave him his first goal in three years for England and at the same time pushing his team to the quarter finals. Christian Mora dove for the ball a micro-second earlier as he was able to touch the ball before it forced it’s way in what seemed to have scratched the left pole before hitting the net.

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Results (2nd Stage): Argentina vs Mexico

Lukas Podolski Miroslav Klose
I missed my prediction for this game where Mexico was supposed to win.

Judging by the way the two teams played it could have gone either way that saw Maxi Rodriguez scoring on a left-footed shot on the 98th minute.

It was a close game which started with flare as captain Marquez scored the first goal of the game on the 6th minute followed by a controversial goal from Crespo of Argentina in the 10th minute wherein Jared Borgetti of Mexico seemed to have headed the ball towards the back of the net.

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Preview (2nd Stage): Argentina vs Mexico

FIFA World Cup ArgentinaArgentina is far better than anyone expected or gauged prior to the tournament. They have been scoring at will and their young lineup which includes Lionel Messi is showing enormous aggresiveness in attack, and a rampage during the group stage. With a draw and two wins which includes a 6 goal output in one of them, people deep inside are expecting a string of shots and goals scored in the tournament.

A tricky opponent is when your against a birthday celebrant—Juan Riquelme.

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Results (2nd Stage): Germany vs Sweden

Lukas Podolski Miroslav Klose

Germany asserted their might in the face of Sweden as they outplayed, outgunned, and outscored their opponents 2-0. My predictions were slightly off as Germany was supposed to win 2-0 against Sweden.

Sweden clamped down on Miroslav Klose, the leading goal scorer of the group stage tournament, enroute to fueling both plays to set the stage for Lukas Podolski to shine in their game. On the first goal Miroslav Klose fired a shot at the goal that saw Isaksson deflecting the ball which bounced back toward Podolski’s line firing the ball behind the net as Sweden’s goalkeeper was still lying on the field.

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Preview (2nd Stage): Germany vs Sweden

FIFA World Cup SwedenPeople are going to watch and see who among the two teams are going out of the tournament. Sweden is feeling the pressure playing against the host nation who will be going in hordes shouting and cheering like barbarians raising the hearts of their country to unmatched proportions.

The hardest team to go up against is the team who has the 12th man by their side—German Fans.

The odds are against Sweden who is facing the leading goal scorer in the tournament—Miroslav Klose, the goalie who replaced the greatest goalie in 2002—Jens Lehmann, the coach who revolutionized and changed the way the traditional Germans play the game—Jurgen Klinsmann, and winning all three matches—9 points, etc…

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Brazil Shift 1 of 16

Brazil

The final 16 of the tournament has been decided and we have seen some teams meeting our expectations while some were big surprises in the tournament.

The biggest losers were led by United States ranked number 5 by FIFA and Czech Republic seated at number 2 prior the start of the competition. We have also seen some higher rank teams like Japan (18), Tunisia (21), Iran (23), Croatia (23), etc… left behind by Switzerland (35), Ecuador (39), Australia (42), Ukraine (45) and Ghana (48).

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