Fifa World Cup 2002

I can't believe we were missing the soccer (football, fútbol, whatever) tournament without making any comments! The party has just started, I had to wake up today at 6:30 AM just to watch the first game (I didn't have to go to classes early), and it was such a surprise:

Group A
Senegal 1 - France 0

FIFA World Cup™ debutantes Senegal kicked off the 2002 edition of the world's greatest sporting event by shocking holders France 0 : 1 in Seoul, Korea through a first-half goal from Papa Bouba Diop.
The French-speaking African side came out bravely, and behind the dangerous El Hadji Diouf, proved that they were not going to be intimidated. France increased their pressure but their finishing failed to break down a solid Senegalese defence. Considering that France hit the woodwork twice, Senegal coach Bruno Metsu could not be more pleased about the end result of the long-awaited match. Never has the loss of Zidane's magic wand been felt more cruelly by the French.

Senegal did not seem intimidated at all by the FIFA World Cup holders in the early going, and El Hadji Diouf created the first chance for Senegal when he beat Marcel Desailly to the by-line and laid the ball back for Khalilou Fadiga, whose low shot rolled right to France goalkeeper Fabien Barthez.

Shortly after France had a half-chance, when a Barthez punt was knocked on to a streaking David Trezeguet behind the Senegal defence. But the Juventus striker’s first touch let him down.

Trezeguet’s touch failed him again minutes later as he struck the right post with a powerful, curling shot from the top of the penalty area (24’).

Senegal shocked France with the tournament’s first goal at the half-hour mark, just when it seemed that the French offside trap had Diouf in fits. The Senegalese striker rounded Frank Leboeuf and laid a dangerous ball across the face of the goal. It took deflections from Emmanuel Petit and Barthez before sitting up wonderfully for Papa Bouba Diop, who easily knocked the ball into the open net from his backside (0:1, 30’).

After giving up the goal, France finished out the half by creating a flurry of dangerous situations, but they never managed to truly test Sylva.

France opened the second half with a string of chances. They went close when Lilian Thuram served a cross from the right side, and Trezeguet’s glancing header couldn’t stay inside the left post (55’).

France missed an even better opportunity soon after. Sylvain Wiltord served a cross from the right side, and Henry couldn’t keep his header down, sailing it over an open goal. Then it was Youri Djorkaeff’s turn to have a go. His shot from 25 metres was stopped by Sylva, who had to scramble to punch the rebound over the by-line for a corner.

Vieira then rose up to meet a corner from the right side and sent a powerful header on goal, forcing Sylva to make a nice diving save to his right (58’).

Senegal had their first good chance of the half off the foot of Fadiga, whose rocket from 10 metres caromed off the top of the crossbar and out for a goal kick (65’). Then Henry came right back with a shot of his own off the woodwork, the spirited action flying from end to end (66’).

France seemed to run out of steam after that, demoralized and frustrated by their inability to take advantage of so many chances, and they didn’t threaten again until stoppage time, when Henry and Leboeuf each blasted shots from inside the area, forcing two nice saves from Sylva.

From www.fifaworldcup.com


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"Not the kind that is lost or is found, she has always been there,
A lover needed for this soul to survive"
~ George, 1976

Well, any comments and your favorite teams and players and every thing you want to add to the conversation are welcomed!

See, the France team is excellent. Having both the English Premier League and the Italian Calcio scorers as their forwards and being the actual World & European champions must mean something. When asked who I thought was going to win the tournament I thought "oooh. France". But today I saw another confused, nervous France that is not even the shadow of 1998's team. Senegal, having two average good players, made them suffer lots of trouble...

So... we still have to see Argentina, England, Italy, Germany, Brazil and all the other possible favorites... Hope they won't be as disappointing as France today.

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"Not the kind that is lost or is found, she has always been there,
A lover needed for this soul to survive"
~ George, 1976

Wow, Senegal won! Well, for sure, those who bet something must have earned a bit! I also think that the teams yet have to 'hambient' to the new climate, to the world cup stuff, and this was the first match so far, so I will wait till next game to judge France

All I've got to say, is that I support England, and I hope that this is the right time, since it's from 1966, that we haven't won anything. I hope that Becks will play Sunday, and I am also confident that our Michael (Owen) will be the first scorer of the team... that guy is a football genius!

So, I'll keep my finger crossed, and yet knowing that I won't watch all the matches of my team, due to lessons and exams, I really really wish you all the best, and may you reach the top of the world!

It's coming home, it's coming home, it's coming, football's coming home

Oh, and Cristian, Italy will be disappointing I feel and hope that

Who are you going to support, instead?

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"Because there wasn't any reason left to keep it all inside"
- Paul McCartney, 1982

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Tahoma, Arial, Sans-Serif">Quote:</font><HR>Originally Posted By Amalthea:
it's from 1966, that we haven't won anything<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>We?

See, I always support Italy because, I don't know, must be something with the blood... I have an italian surname and italian ancestors, so I always tend to like la squadra azzurra, even though they aren't the most "fair play" team in the tournaments.

I like this English team because it plays a beautiful soccer... and has a brilliant team. But I don't trust the coach (Ericsson) too much, because of a national thing... he didn't seem to like our national star Marcelo Salas while he was the head coach in Lazio. So let's just see what happens.

I will be supporting Argentina. Sure, they are not that close to be "friends" with chilean people, but this team really kicked major a** during the qualifyers down here. And they are the closest thing to Chile being in the WC.



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"Not the kind that is lost or is found, she has always been there,
A lover needed for this soul to survive"
~ George, 1976

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Tahoma, Arial, Sans-Serif">Quote:</font><HR>Originally Posted By darkhorse:
We?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

eheh... me and my will to be English! It's also that I've suffered for England team now for 2 Worlds Cup and 3 European Championships, so I feel a sort of empathy...

The fair play thing, is exactly the point about my dislike of the Italian team. Plus, add that I HATE the way they consider calcio... seems like a god, the only one can be happy, the thing if you aren't expert of, you become a stupid and so on... it's all around it, at least, for most of the people. They literally kill eachother the day before, during the campionato, they literally considers themselves brothers the day after since it's World Cup period. And when the World Cup comes, you see the most idiot things on earth, like... I've read that Monday the offices will let the employers to leave work and go to a bar and watch the match, then get back.. all paid! That makes me so mad and sad... well, at least is what I feel!

Gee, let's finish this speech lol... sorry!

Shall we have a bet on who will be at the octaves.. then quarters, then semifinals, then final? That could be fun!

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"Because there wasn't any reason left to keep it all inside"
- Paul McCartney, 1982

I'm so glad France lost. If they'll be 2nd in their group, England (assuming they'll come 2nd in Group F) won't meet them in the next round!


<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Tahoma, Arial, Sans-Serif">Quote:</font><HR>Originally Posted By darkhorse:
so I always tend to like la squadra azzurra, even though they aren't the most "fair play" team in the tournaments. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Nah, that would be Argentina.

(Other than England *Fingers crossed*) I kinda like Italy. They got the best-looking players. Cannavaro, Del Piero, Nesta, Maldini...

I really hope England will do well. I'm not dreaming about getting to the final, but I think quarterfinals will be great.
Who do you think will win the World Cup? My bet is Argentina.

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When I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide
Where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride
Till I get to the bottom and I see you again.

[This Message Has Been Edited By lucyinthesky_84 On May 31, 2002 11:26 AM]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Tahoma, Arial, Sans-Serif">Quote:</font><HR>Originally Posted By Amalthea:
Shall we have a bet on who will be at the octaves.. then quarters, then semifinals, then final? That could be fun! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Yay that would be fun! Okay, here are the groups:

Group A
France
Senegal
Uruguay
Denmark

Group B
Paraguay
South Africa
Spain
Slovenia

Group C
Brazil
Turkey
China
Costa Rica

Group D
Korea Rep.
Poland
United States
Portugal

Group E
Ireland
Cameroon
Germany
Saudi Arabia

Group F
England
Sweden
Argentina
Nigeria

Group G
Croatia
Mexico
Italy
Ecuador

Group H
Japan
Belgium
Russia
Tunisia

Tomorrow (tonight? today?)'s games are:
Ireland v Cameroon
Uruguay v Denmark (go Uruguay!)
Germany v Saudi Arabia

Any my bets for the qualified teams... will be coming soon. I'll have to think about it.



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"Not the kind that is lost or is found, she has always been there,
A lover needed for this soul to survive"
~ George, 1976

My guesses

Ireland v Cameroon
Cameroon wins

Uruguay v Denmark (go Uruguay!)
Uruguay wins

Germany v Saudi Arabia
Germany wins

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"I want to tell you
My head is filled with things to say
When you're here
All those words, they seem to slip away"

Well..let's see

Uruguay vs Denmark
winner: Uruguay

Paraguay vs South Africa
winner: South Africa

Spain vs Slovenia
winner: Spain

Brazil vs Turkey
winner: Brazil

China vs Costa Rica
winner: China

Korea Rep. vs Poland
winner: Poland

United States vs Portugal
winner: United States

Ireland vs Cameroon
winner: Cameroon

Germany vs Saudi Arabia
winner: Germany

England vs Sweden
winner: England

Argentina vs Nigeria
winner: Argentina

Croatia vs Mexico
winner: Croatia

Italy vs Ecuador
winner: Italy

Japan vs Belgium
winner: Belgium

Russia vs Tunisia
winner: Tunisia

That's all

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"Till the flowers stop a-growin', till the ocean's a sea of snow..." Paul McCartney, 1977

Isn't she cute? She put her bets in games that are not going to be played in a week even...

For tomorrow, I hope Uruguay wins, but then Denmark has a good team also. I'll say they end up tied. Germany and Cameroon should not have problems in winning their respective games. I'll be waking up at 5 AM to watch the Denmark v Uruguay match. The things you have to do when you live in the end of the world.

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"Not the kind that is lost or is found, she has always been there,
A lover needed for this soul to survive"
~ George, 1976

Can't bet on Ireland v Cameroon cos it's on right now. (1-1, hope Cameroon will win!)

My bets for the next 2 matches today;

Uruguay v Denmark
Denmark wins

Germany v Saudi Arabia
Germany wins

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When I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide
Where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride
Till I get to the bottom and I see you again.

Now I'll try to go straight to the octaves bet

Group A: France, Denmark

Group B: Spain, Slovenia

Group C: Brazil, Turkey

Group D: Poland, Portugal

Group E: Cameroon, Germany

Group F: England, Argentina

Group G: Croatia, Italy

Group H: Belgium, Russia

And...

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Tahoma, Arial, Sans-Serif">Quote:</font><HR>Originally Posted By Cecilia:England vs Sweden
winner: England<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>



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"Because there wasn't any reason left to keep it all inside"
- Paul McCartney, 1982

My prediction;

Group A
1st; France
2nd; Denmark

Group B
1st; Spain
2nd; South Africa

Group C
1st; Brazil
2nd; Turkey

Group D
1st; Portugal
2nd; Korea Rep.

Group E
1st; Germany
2nd; Rep. of Ireland

Group F
1st; Argentina
2nd; England

Group G
1st; Italy
2nd; Croatia

Group H
1st; Russia
2nd; Japan




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When I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide
Where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride
Till I get to the bottom and I see you again.

Germany beat Saudi Arabia 8-0. Wow.


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When I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide
Where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride
Till I get to the bottom and I see you again.

Yahoo! Messenger has a very good IMViroment about the World Cup, have a try!

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"Because there wasn't any reason left to keep it all inside"
- Paul McCartney, 1982

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Tahoma, Arial, Sans-Serif">Quote:</font><HR>Originally Posted By Cecilia:
Germany vs Saudi Arabia
winner: Germany

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>



a good bet



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"Till the flowers stop a-growin', till the ocean's a sea of snow..." Paul McCartney, 1977

First for yesterday's games report.

Group E
Cameroon 1 - Ireland 1

The 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan™ kicked off in Japan with Cameroon and Ireland fighting to a tense Group E draw in Niigata. Both sides had their fair share of good chances, but Patrick Mboma and Matt Holland were the only names on the score sheet in the end.
Watched by colourful fans on both sides, it was a match of contradictory halves, as the Indomitable Lions looked far and away the better side in the first. However, Mick McCarthy’s team, without sent home captain Roy Keane, recovered bravely after the break and drew level early in the second half. The Irish will now face group-favourites Germany, while Cameroon take on Saudi Arabia in Saitama on 6 June.

A cautious start by both teams produced little in the opening minutes, until Ireland’s Matt Holland dived in hard at Marc-Vivien Foe, getting a piece of the ball but more of the Cameroon midfielder’s right knee (7’). The collision seemed to spark the Africans, as they began to gain an edge in possession.

Samuel Etoo created the first real chance of the match when he worked a one-two with Patrick Mboma near midfield to get free. As he raced into the box, charging Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given came out hard to smother the attempt (19’).

Etoo produced another strong chance after running onto a lob into the right side of the penalty area. At the corner of the goal box, he turned and lofted a shot over Given, but off target and out for a goal kick (32’).

Etoo began to create more danger from that point on and was integral in breaking the deadlock when he beat a defender at the by-line on the right side, and his pass found the foot of Mboma, who easily slotted the ball into the empty net (0:1, 39’).

Late in the half, Ireland’s Ian Harte whipped a free kick into the box from the right side that was nearly knocked into the Cameroon goal by defender Rigobert Song, but goalkeeper Boukar Alioum smothered the ball to prevent the own goal (45’).

But that was the only real chance allowed by Cameroon in the first 45 minutes, as they did their part to earn the lead going into the dressing room.

The hard-working Irish side started the second half in search of an early goal and almost had one when Kevin Kilbane’s glancing header from Ian Harte’s cross skidded wide of the back post (49’).

Just after Geremi narrowly missed the far post after winning possession deep in the Irish half, Ireland found their equaliser through Matt Holland. Kilbane’s cross from the left side was only half cleared by Cameroon, and Holland drilled a solid right-footer from 25 metres into the left corner (1:1, 52’).

The goal really sparked Ireland and they almost went ahead when a ball played into the goal mouth for Robbie Keane was blocked towards goal by Rigobert Song, and only a desperate dive from goalkeeper Boukar Alioum kept the game level (63’).

Through most of the second half, neither side consistently had the better run of play, but Ireland seemed to sense victory as the match drew to a close and gained momentum.

Robbie Keane looked to take advantage of some more poor work by the Cameroon defence. Standing at the edge of the penalty area, Keane coolly controlled a driven clearance with one touch, and his quick right-footed drive crashed off the far post (84’).

As the clock neared full time, Ireland had another opportunity to go ahead but Steven Reid’s powerful free kick was tipped over the bar by Alioum (90’).

Group A
Denmark 2 - Uruguay 1

Scoring chances came in bundles Saturday evening in Ulsan, Korea as Uruguay and Denmark played in their opening match of the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan™. Jon Dahl Tomasson found the net late in each half to lead the Danes to an emotional victory.
The game began with end-to-end action, and no one was surprised when Tomasson and Uruguay’s Dario Rodriguez scored on either side of half-time. Tomasson completed his double in the closing minutes, placing Denmark atop Group A along side Senegal. France and Uruguay are now facing long-odds as they share the bottom of the table with no points.

Neither side seemed to be showing any nerves as they both got off to bright starts. Dario Silva and Sebastian Abreu had half chances within the first five minutes for Uruguay, and just after, Dennis Rommedahl’s left-footer gave Denmark hope on their end.

Again good chances were exchanged when Alvaro Recoba curled a patented left-footed free kick just around the right post (9’), while Ebbe Sand had the best chance of the half at the other end. But, the unmarked Schalke man watched his diving header bounce on the pitch and up off the top of the crossbar (12’).

After the early flurry, the match settled down, though both teams continued to be attack-minded and skilful when moving forward on the break. Generally, Uruguay preferred to work quickly through the middle, while Denmark exploited space on the wings to send in some dangerous crosses.

The half continued slowly until near the whistle. Recoba looped a lovely ball to Silva whose header was cut out (40’), and Rommedahl’s shot was cleared as well (41’). Denmark followed up with more pressure and were rewarded when Jesper Gronkjaer set up Jon Dahl Tomasson, who made no mistake with his shot from 10 yards out (0:1, 45’).

The second half started with an immediate response from the celestes, as Dario Rodriguez curled a stunning left-foot volley into the top corner of the Danish net (1:1, 47’). From a Recoba corner, the ball was only partially cleared and it eventually fell to the Penarol defender 20 metres out.

The sides remained relatively even, though the quickness of Recoba, Abreu, and Silva caused occasional problems for the Danish defence. Recoba’s running blast from 30 metres was caught well by a diving Thomas Sorensen (64’).

However, Gronkjaer and substitute Martin Jorgensen were doing well on each flank for Denmark. In the 80th minute, Jorgensen beat a couple of players in the Uruguayan box, but the Uruguayan defence, led captain Paolo Montero, scrapped their way through.

That is until Tomasson’s perfectly placed header hit off the underside of the crossbar and into the Uruguayan net (1:2, ’83). Yet another cross from the left by Jorgensen set the unmarked player up, and Uruguayan goalkeeper Fabian Carini was left flat-footed by the superb placement of the ball.

The Danes ran out the final ten minutes of the match knowing that they had launched their World Cup adventure in the best way possible.

Group E
Germany 8 - Saudi Arabia 0

Germany recorded their largest-ever margin of victory in a FIFA World Cup™ match against Saudi Arabia at the Sapporo Dome in Japan on Saturday. Miroslav Klose’s hat-trick led the way for Germany, who scored four goals in each half in their opening game of the tournament.
The Germans displayed mechanical timing in the first half, producing three headed goals, all to the left of Saudi Arabian goalkeeper Mohammed Al Deayea from left-side crosses. One goal each from Michael Ballack, Carsten Jancker, Thomas Linke, Oliver Bierhoff and Bernd Schneider filled out the scoring. After Saturday afternoon’s 1-1 draw between Ireland and Cameroon, Germany move to the top of Group E.

The Germans asserted themselves right from the start, and Saudi Arabia melted under the onslaught, as Germany cut through the opposing defence time after time.

Jancker almost opened the scoring shortly after kick-off when he received a pass in the area with his back to the goal, but his spinning shot went wide of the far post (2’). Germany kept attacking, and Ballack thought he had a gift when a fight for the ball on the edge of the area resulted in the ball rolling out to him in space, but his effort from 20 metres sailed over the crossbar (16’).

The inevitable German goal came when Ballack knocked in a cross from the left wing that bounced in the area up to the head of Klose, who directed it into the net to the left of Saudi Arabia goalkeeper Mohammed Al Deayea (1:0, 20’).

Germany wasted no time getting their second. Again it was Ballack who sent the cross from the left, and again it was Klose who headed it into the Saudi net, again to Al Deayea’s left (2:0, 25’).

The third goal was more of the same but with different names. This time it was Christian Ziege serving from the left, with Ballack heading to the left side of Al Deayea (3:0, 40’).

Germany changed up the formula for the fourth goal. The cross came from the right side, Klose flicked it on cleverly to Jancker, who ferociously finished passed Al Deayea (4:0, 46+).

With the game already well in hand and with Germany starting to concern themselves more with not picking up bookings or injuries, the Germans still managed to create dangerous situations by repeatedly putting the ball into the Saudi penalty area.

Klose benefited from one of those dangerous situations, heading in a cross from the right side for his third goal of the night, the first hat-trick of this year’s finals. He has now scored 11 goals in 13 full international matches. The hat-trick was his third for the German national team (5:0, 69’).

Linke got into the scoring act almost before Klose had finished celebrating. Linke rose up to head a corner kick from the right side into the net, the fifth headed goal on the night for the Germans (6:0, 73’).

Bierhoff, who had come on for Janker in the 67th minute, also had his chance to celebrate. He ran onto a ball from out of midfield and, as he fell down with a defender in his hip pocket, he fired a low shot into the left corner of the goal from 25 metres (7:0, 84’).

Schneider capped off the scoring in injury time with a curling free-kick from 20 metres into the upper-right corner (8:0, 91+’).


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"Not the kind that is lost or is found, she has always been there,
A lover needed for this soul to survive"
~ George, 1976

These games were actually this very early morning to us. I could only watch (and half asleep) the Uruguay v Denmark game, and was very disappointed by the south american team, but well impressed about the discipline and good skills that the european team showed. It was a good match. And, that Germany victory could only surprise me, since it is not their very best team... but then Saudi Arabia isn't exactly one of the world's most powerful teams, is it.

The games for today (tomorrow night, for us), are:

Argentina v Nigeria
Paraguay v South Africa
England v Sweden
Spain v Slovenia

I'll bet again, although I never seem to actually guess who's going to win... Nevertheless, I hope Argentina wins, I think England will also win, as well as Spain. I'm not too sure about Paraguay, so I'll say they end up in a tie.


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"Not the kind that is lost or is found, she has always been there,
A lover needed for this soul to survive"
~ George, 1976

Oh I almost forgot to add my bets to who's going to be in the next round:

Group A: Denmark, France
Group B: Paraguay, Spain
Group C: Brazil, Turkey
Group D: Portugal, Poland
Group E: Germany, Cameroon
Group F: England, Argentina
Group G: Croatia, Italy
Group H: Japan, Belgium

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"Not the kind that is lost or is found, she has always been there,
A lover needed for this soul to survive"
~ George, 1976

Group A
Senegal
Denmark

Group B
South Africa
Spain

Group C
Brazil
China

Group D
Poland
Portugal

Group E
Cameroon
Germany

Group F
Argentina
Nigeria

Group G
Mexico
Italy

Group H
Belgium
Russia

Eighth Finals:
Germany def. South Africa
Argentna def. Denmark
Nigeria def. Senegal
Cameroon def. Spain
Portugal def. Mexico
Brazil def. Belgium
Russia def. China
Italy def. Poland

Quarter Finals
Portugal def. Russia
Nigeria def. Germany
Cameroon def. Argentina
Brazil def. Italy

Semi- Finals
Portugal def. Nigeria
Brazil def. Cameroon

Third Place
Cameroon def. Nigeria

Final
Brazil def. Portugal




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Tim

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