I don't think that's quite true Alan. It seems to be anyone and everyone who's into it here.

The only difference is working class people have England flags on their cars/vans/trucks/houses/shirts/etc.

Ridenour; I'd love to come to Denver but last time I checked the flight alone was about £ 1200 ($2000) give or take.

I saw that they had possession time of 53% vs. 47% at half time. I would imagine a lot of that was in our half of the field.

We actually started looking a little better in much of the second half. Maybe there's a chance with Italy. Long range shots are a must.. Italy also had some nice ones vs. Ghana.

The referee also took a lot of the fun out of the US vs. Czeck Republic game. He let some obvious fouls go by, but called a lot of touch fouls.

CJ

My curse is that I miss many of the games because of my work load. I could record them but when would I watch them? I saw the tail end of the Germany- Poland game and it was one of the better matches;almost like a refight of WWII. Both teams played very rough and the Officials seemed fair. Beautiful goad in additional time by two substitutes. Germany will always be a dirty team to my way of thinking as I can never get out of my mind the 1982 World Cup when German goalie Toni Schumacher cold cocked France's Patrick Battison as he came in alone on goal. Battison lost 3 teath and was carried off the field on a strecher while Schumacher went through streching excercises; of course the brilliant officials found nothing illegal to call on the play.

Channel 68 replayed Spain/Ukrane and while I have never thought much of the Spainish side they were very dangerous and methodical, making the most of their chances. Efficiency wins games as was born out in the earlier German/Poland match and the Brazil/Croatia match. One needs to make the most of the few opportunites that arise. The level of play has been very high by and large. Anyone thinking soccer is low scoring and boring clearly did not bother watching the Germany/Poland match.

Alan

Add to that the Mets winning, and you get Nirvana.


This may be true for the regular season/local Pro soccer leagues, but not for the World Cup.

My poor clients. I'll be nowhere to be seen by 4.30 as kick off is at 5pm.

Come on England.

I'm amazed by the number of late goals... don't turn off the matches in the 85th minute thinking they're done!

Comcast just added ESPN2HD to our lineup. Race fans couldn't get em to do it but thanks tot the World Cup we can now watch poker faces and domino championships in glorious hd resolution!

Anyone think the US has a snowballs chance in hell of beating Italy? Unfortunately there is no way the US can sneak up on Italy. The Italians are a smart squad and they'll know they are playing a desperate side. I look for the US to come out much differently then they did against the Czechs... with a lot more speed and playing like there is nothing to lose... Italy will probably be very patient... knowing that even a draw virtually guarantees them a place in the 16. A good defensive effort will unfortunately wear us down and leave the Ghana game for pride only.

Germany was no where near as impressive, England took a long time to build anything up... I still think the best side I've seen was the Czechs... but time will tell. Brazil hasn't launched yet and when they do its usually a race for 2nd 3rd & 4th.

I guess you missed the Argintine/Serbia-Montenagro match today. The South American side has played the best football I've seen to date, including the Chzck's brilliant play against a disappointing American side. If England continues to play as boring and uninspired ball Argintina will send them home yet again to the disappointment of our former Colonial masters. Has Owen really recovered from his foot injury? Judging by his play I'd say not. Hopefully, Rooney's return will bode well for our cousins. Only a fan[atic] would be pleased with their play to date. Brazil also has a habit of playing down to its competition in the opening rounds. I'd love to see a rematch of Argintina/Briazil. As good as some of the matches have been what has been missing is the surprise side in this World Cup. There is no Cameroon or Nigeria, no US or Korea in this tournement to date.

Once Erikson had subbed rooney and lennon the whole game changed.

It was like a different team. Rumour has it that we'll start our next match against Sweden like it and so much the better.

I still haven't seen the USA play yet and will be sure to catch them on the next match as they are no where near as bad as some make them out to be.

I agree,

But they sure played a stinky match... and didn't do ANYTHING to dispel the naysayers.

S--t Alan, you're not supposed to talk about the results until the next day... that way those of us with DVRs can sit up till 2:00 AM watching fresh!

Glad to hear Argentina played well though... I always wait for Argentina-England... great, although dubious history here.

But all I said was they played brilliantly. This is a match to watch over and over again if you enjoy passing, team play, vision and watching a team build its way foreward.

At this level you only get so many opportunities and you have to make the most of them. The Americans didn't attack, they didn't build and they did little with the few chances they had. They played unispired ball and unlike England they don't have the talent to get away with that.

Alan

WOW,

You're right Alan. Argentina's subs would be the stars on other squads... pretty amazing against a team that allowed 1 goal in 10 qualifiers! Your also right that we need at least 1 Cinderella story... US wakes up against Italy? Czech's lose to Ghana? sure would make it interesting.

The way this US/Italy game is going it should be 3 on 3 by the 90th minute. What the hell...

Fresh back from watching the Us-Italy game with a few observations...

1. After over 30 years of playing and watching this game i have never seen a team dive more than the Italians. You'd think their injuries were of the gravest nature until the magic water bottle comes out and "brings them back to life". I've always had great respect for Italy... today they looked like total pussies.

2. Has anybody ever explained the offside rule to the Azzuri? I've seen U-10 teams that get it better.

3. The official was a complete joke... for both teams. Word has it this moron was the one suspended in the 2002 cup for inconsistent calls. Sending Pablo off really reeked. A lot of his on field calls like the no hand ball on Italy and the offside on McBride were accurate though.

4. I was obviously wrong about the Czechs... I guess they shot their proverbial wad against the US and had nothing left in their aging team. Now it will really be funny for me to be rooting for the same Italian team I'm slamming at this time.

5. The US made me proud... at least they played more like the way we knew they could. A repeat of this perfomance against Ghana and we could be moving on! (against most likely Brazil... OUCH). I love it that the last game will have meaning for us. To any clients calling Thursday morning... I'll talk to ya after 3!

What did anyone else think of this game?

If you are correct, Rholand, and this official was sent packing for inconsistancy previously and let back in to prove his worthlessness then FIFA owes an appologee to all teams participating. It's one thing when teams lay an egg, but officiating has to be the best. I had thought the new rules and the officiating had been pretty good to date. But this jerk handing out yellow cards for standard fouls and red cards for what, at worst, ought to have been a yellow. The first Red card was earned by the player throwing an elbow. Pablo's was a joke. I'm not sure it even deserved a yellow card, let alone a red. It was a late tackle and it was a foul. It was a free kick not a cardable offense. And he did that to both sides. Later in the second half he issued a yellow card to an Italian for a standard professional foul. I'm not sure they did not mess up those off sides calls, Rholand, as when I looked at the replays it was VERY close as to whether the Italian player was on sides when the ball was struck. The only call they called correctly ( and it was an assistant not the big doofus himself ) was the interference call on the US second goal that was disallowed. Personally, I don't know the rules that well to complain. Assuming the rule is as the announcers explained I cannot complain about the call.

I only wish we had played as well, and with so much energy, in our first match. We challanged for every ball and we made some one-on-one moves got into space and created some chances. Our strikers are still not world class finishers but McBride did have his chances. Getting the first goal seems to be more important this year then in previous years. The first goal by Ghana, or the absence of the Czeck striker, seems to have completely upset the Czeck side. Then again, they may have had an off day. One may be able to afford that in the first round but come the second you go home when you do not play up to form.

Alan

I thought the game was superb.

OK there was a couple of sending offs (wtf for - US that is) and a lot of diving from the spaghetti eaters but it was a genuinely exciting game.

I thought the Americans played superbly and really made some great chances. Bloody excellent saves from the keeper. For some others on this thread and of course to I'm sure a huge number of the American public to look at this 'kickball' with such a low opinion is disrespectful to say the least.

The players should be proud of that game and any American supporters proud of the players.

Thouroughly enjoyed it.