I think it's hilarious how they are talking up the US England game in the pregame show. I think I just heard them say that it could be the most momentous game in football history.

edit: Why is the soccer world cup played during prime time here, but the Rugby World Cup never gets shown :( (US)

Well, good game I felt Eng vs USA; lucky goal for the USA but it doesn't matter how you get them.

On the balence of play I think England deserved the win, but the USA defense held out well.

However, I have to say, making a subsitution with <30sec to go when the other team have a free kick in order to kill off the game? Bad form USA, bad form...

Quote:Original post by phantom
However, I have to say, making a subsitution with <30sec to go when the other team have a free kick in order to kill off the game? Bad form USA, bad form...

Soccer isn't played by gentlemen...

I feel really sorry for Robert Green - a dreadful mistake, made in front of literally millions of people if you include TV viewers. I doubt he'll live it down for quite a while where the fans are concerned, but I don't think the squad hold any grudges with him over it.

Mind you, most people have forgotten about David Batty, Teddy Sheringham, even Beckham made mistakes. They all bounced back and got on with it, and I hope the same is true for Robert Green because he appears to be pretty good despite his lack of international experience.

For all their pomp and bluster, I didn't see the US being on top form at all. The defence just fell apart when the England goal came in and you could see how pissed off their keeper was, given that the ball was just neatly slotted past the defenders and he was left to deal with it on his own. There was nothing truly blinding about their performance and they drew by pure luck and English misfortune.

I'm not a football expert by any means, but what really struck me tonight was how intense, and seemingly difficult to please, Fabio Capello is. I can't say I'd ever given it that much attention before now but he seems to be a very harsh master indeed.

I agree about the substitution at the end being bad form, I would go a little bit further and actually consider it time wasting. I'm willing to bet that too many teams doing precisely that, at different times throughout the tournament, leads to complaints and a possible change in FIFA rules because it's just cheap.

Anyway, a draw isn't a disaster and there's still Algeria and Slovenia to come (the Algeria game being this coming Friday, the 18th).

Quote:Original post by Don Carnage
Come on, we'll play a draw, then proceed to kick Japan and Cameroons asses, both teams go through.

Works for me, provided it was an exiting match.
A 6-6 final score I could live with. :)

heh. Search for World Cup on google and scroll all the way down. :P

Sorry, it turns out my reporting was in error yesterday as it seems that the USA won the 1-1 draw, so well done I guess? [grin]