Official World Cup Spoiler Thread

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 4:57 pm

<rrriiiiipppp...>

That's the noise of DT's £10 e/w bet on Spain, going the way of the dodo.

Apart from the pen, they created nothing. Midfield too lightweight (now you can see why Barca didn't miss Xavi), Torres huffed and puffed to no effect, Joaquin is like Christiano Ronaldo...loads of tricks, no end product.

For me, the unheralded player of the tournament so far - French no 22, Franck Ribery.

I'm not betting on Spain again (at least not until Euro 2008, when I will have forgotten this sage advice again).

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 4:58 pm

ALLEZ LES BLEUS!

Two quarterfinal games that recently were finals. Of course, I guess that's not so unusual at the World Cup.

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 5:00 pm

Zeppo wrote:ALLEZ LES BLEUS!

Two quarterfinal games that recently were finals. Of course, I guess that's not so unusual at the World Cup.

Now we see if France can beat Brazil without you at the helm, Zep!

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 5:02 pm

davet010 wrote: For me, the unheralded player of the tournament so far - French no 22, Franck Ribery.

Ribery was awesome when he came on against Korea. He was the only one who was agressive in that second half. He was great today. Also Sagnol, Viera were excellent tonight. Viera has been key in the last couple games!

And Wiltord! Get that guy on the field for some minutes v. Brazil!

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 5:07 pm

JRod wrote:After the first half dive turned into a PK, I'm rooting against all diving nations. Spain and Italy are quite possible the most "diving" teams in the world.

I'm also rooting for Henry.

Zidanes dive was also pretty impressive. For a minute I thoought he was shot from the stands.

Spain will always be Spain...but I think It was more France turning it on and winning the game than Spain being unlucky or choking...

Looking forward to France vs Brazil

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 5:30 pm

What about the foul that Henry draw clutching his face when he was elbowed at worst in the chest?

That led to the winning goal, which was lucky because a Spaniard headed it towards the far post to Viera who was all alone.

Guess the black gave it to Aragones' team.

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 6:16 pm

France did turn it on. I know the moment I posted something about diving, France would get in on the act.

Ya that was some good acting by Henry.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 6:55 pm

You think France-Brazil have 1998 in the back of their minds?

Feanor · Post by **Feanor** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 8:35 pm

JRod wrote:After the first half dive turned into a PK, I'm rooting against all diving nations. Spain and Italy are quite possible the most "diving" teams in the world.

I'm also rooting for Henry.

That was a definite penalty in the first half.... the close-up replay showed clearly that the French player stepped on the back of the Spanish player's ankle. Looked rather painful, actually.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 8:44 pm

France-Brazil and Argentina-Germany: The other two quarterfinals are warm-up acts!

Take care,
PK

dougb · Post by **dougb** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 9:33 pm

RobVarak wrote:Terrible job by the linesman on the second goal. Terrible!

I'm having a hard time picking a side for this France - Spain tilt. On the one hand, I don't like France, Domenech or 75% of their players, and I like the football that Spain's played so far (and their Liverpool contingent as well). OTOH, I don't like Aragones or the racist strain in Spanish football, and Thierry Henry is far too classy to root against with any fervor.

Meanwhile away from the pitch, things take an odd turn in Italy:

http://football.guardian.co.uk/worldcup ... 10,00.html

Big question in Italy was did he jump or was he pushed? Stay tuned, the stench of corruption in Serie A is threatening to become overpowering.

A couple of really fine matches today to wipe away the disappointment of yesterday's lacklustre matches. All of a sudden France look dangerous and Brazil's path to the semis is by no means certain. I had a feeling that Spain might fall after seeing Raul listed in the starting lineup. That didn't make much sense seeing as their two best performances came when he started on the bench.

Best wishes,

Doug

Best wishes,

Doug

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 10:06 pm

Doug:

The Juventus manager supposedly was found with a rosary in his hand on the ground. Did he climb to the club roof to say a novena?

Unlikely. I'll take jump over push unless the mob pushed him from the roof, and he was saying a rosary because he thought it was his last moments before he met God.

Strange and sad, either way.

Take care,
PK

dougb · Post by **dougb** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 10:14 pm

pk500 wrote:Doug:

The Juventus manager supposedly was found with a rosary in his hand on the ground. Did he climb to the club roof to say a novena?

Unlikely. I'll take jump over push unless the mob pushed him from the roof, and he was saying a rosary because he thought it was his last moments before he met God.

Strange and sad, either way.

Take care,
PK

I wonder how much influence the Mafia has on Italian sports. I haven't heard much about their involvement, although you'd think with the resources they command they'd control a few clubs.

Hopefully they'll get to the bottom of the whole thing (no pun intended) and unveil the guilty parties of this scandal. One things for certain - it takes a lot more than 1 individual to fix results.

and definitely agree that its sad. It's bad enough when reputations and sports are ruined - no one should die for a game.

Best wishes,

Doug

Zlax45 · Post by **Zlax45** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 12:34 am

From John Powers blog on Boston.com/Boston Globe's site.

I have the official credential, encased in plastic and hanging around my neck like a giant dog tag, bearing a photo of the much younger man I used to be before I arrived here. I have a seat in the press tribune, which is what they call the stacked row of tabled seating in the stadium. I have a ticket to the post-match press conference, which seemingly is translated into every language but German. But I still don't feel like a World Cup journalist.

I don't wear my country's game jersey. I don't refer to my country's team as `we'. And I have an odd habit of asking an actual question whenever the microphone is brought to me. "Did you think that red card was justified?", I'll ask the manager. A real World Cup journalist doesn't ask a question. He delivers a soliloquy. He postulates a thesis. He hands up an indictment.

"It has long been said that Portugal must suffer," the man from Lisbon began after his countrymen had survived their hugger-mugger with the Dutch the other night in Nuremberg. "This has always been true, in all tournaments, for all time. Perhaps it is fate, perhaps merely bad luck, perhaps some flaw in our character..." At least that's what I think he said. The translations here vary a bit, depending on who's behind the curtain. I'm told that the man who translates Ukrainian into Spanish is absolutely first-rate. What I know was that there was no question mark anywhere in all the verbiage.

Question marks, I have found, do not accompany soliloquies at the World Cup. They come at the end of formal indictments. In 1994, when the Brazilians were on their way to winning their fourth Cup, a journalist from Rio took manager Carlos Alberto Parreira to task after a perfectly satisfactory 2-0 victory over the Russians. "Once again, you have failed miserably to follow my strategy for victory," he told Parreira. "How do you explain this?"

What was remarkable was that Parreira felt compelled to justify himself not just to the journalist, but to everybody in the country. The president of Brazil would call Parreira to suggest lineup changes, and his own mother was badgering him to play Ronaldo, who was only 17 that year. In terms of personal investment, the 12th Man at Texas A&M has nothing on a Cup journalist wearing his national colors and saying `we'. "You have disgraced your country," one of them once told a player after a match. "Your comments?"

The managers are used to the indictments and the soliloquies by now. They either launch ripostes of their own (Serbia's Ilija Petkovic's to his Belgrade accuser after the 6-0 loss to Argentina was a classic) or roll their eyes in amused tolerance or pretend that their headsets aren't working. The master of deflection is Marco Van Basten, the Dutch manager. He'll listen patiently, with a blank expression, to a lengthy disquisition on suffering, destiny and Fortune's inconstancy. "I did not understand your question," he'll respond.

By the way, I found Sox manager Terry Francona's lost twin at the France-Spain match in Hanover tonight. He's Fabien (Le Gardien Ange) Barthez, the French goalkeeper.

Why don't our journalists ask questions like that? Would be hilarious to hear Shelley Smith ask LandyCakes something like "How does it feel to let down your country again? Why don't you play in Europe instead of the MLS and so on..."

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 3:20 am

pk500 wrote:Doug:

The Juventus manager supposedly was found with a rosary in his hand on the ground. Did he climb to the club roof to say a novena?

Unlikely. I'll take jump over push unless the mob pushed him from the roof, and he was saying a rosary because he thought it was his last moments before he met God.

Strange and sad, either way.

Take care,
PK

Even stranger is that Gianluca Pessotto was, until the end of last season, a player at Juventus - he's only just become GM and has no connection to the investigation which is currently ongoing.

As for mafia interest, Juventus is in Turin, not Naples.

This sounds more like some sort of personal crisis, which is sad enough.

On a doctrinal note, and without wishing to stir up a hornet's nest, I thought that suicide was an instant DQ from heaven for a Roman Catholic (which I presume Pessotto is, given that he was clutching a rosary) ?

EZSnappin · Post by **EZSnappin** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 8:17 am

Suicide for Roman Catholics is a bit problematic. God is all forgiving - you just have to ask. So, kill a whole bunch of people- receive absolution before you die - all good.

Hard to ask for absolution after you kill yourself though, which is why it is the eternal damnation express.

Seems like there should be an out as the theory is it is said you meet Saint Peter at the gate - couldn't you ask for forgiveness while you're in the check-in line?

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 8:36 am

Interesting blog, Zlax. There are parallels in racing. I hear more cheering in the media center during one United States Grand Prix than I have in the nine Indianapolis 500s and eight Allstate 400s at the Brickyard that I have worked combined at IMS.

We may rip the American media as biased, but our media contingent looks straight as an area compared to the rest of the worldwide press corps, at least in sports.

Take care,
PK

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 11:25 am

Ya but PK, its like comparing two evils. Our media is overly complacent. We could bring up the Iraq War but that's been done to death. In sports, while there is a good deal of independence there's still very little newsworthy journalism taking place.

I'm appalled as what sports reporters pass off as journalism. It's funny, just the other day I was reading recaps of Ruth's baseball games. The articles were overly eloquent, probably much to "sappy" for today. Now recaps are basically stats and a quote about "how did it feel to win". In my opinion all you need to read is the boxscore and skip the article.

Take world cup soccer, it would be nice if journalists tried to get to the bottom of the officiating rather than pontificate on the officiating.

I digress... I think the level of journalism has degraded in europe is due to the sports tabloids. They sell not on their journalistic integrity or how well they cover a game. But rather on how salicious an article is. It doesn't hurt that they have topless women thrown into the mix increase sales. When these tabloids get more readers than the standard broad pages the quality and indepence will go down.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 2:26 pm

Diving is good for the sport?

http://www.slate.com/id/2144625/?nav=tap3

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 2:28 pm

I'd just like to point out that Germany is still alive, no matter how many times you guys told me that they wouldn't make the Quarters. Please blow me.

fanatic · Post by **fanatic** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 2:58 pm

fsquid wrote:I'd just like to point out that Germany is still alive, no matter how many times you guys told me that they wouldn't make the Quarters. Please blow me.

Ha...well, it's nice that they can play one last game on Friday.

Seriously though- they've made me a fan with their play thus far. Tonnes of passion and some amazing goals for the hilight reels.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 3:02 pm

Plus, Podolski might be a special player. He's only 21. Damn that FSC for giving up the Bundesliga rights so easily!

Programmed2Kill · Post by **Programmed2Kill** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 3:10 pm

fsquid wrote:I'd just like to point out that Germany is still alive, no matter how many times you guys told me that they wouldn't make the Quarters. Please blow me.

Meeehhhhhhh, go strudel yourself.

Be in Germy glee all you want...I still remember over at OS a long time ago, you weren't giving them a shot for the Cup because of their youth.

Programmed2Kill · Post by **Programmed2Kill** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 3:13 pm

fsquid wrote:Plus, Podolski might be a special player. He's only 21. Damn that FSC for giving up the Bundesliga rights so easily!

They did? Crap, that sucks.

I know one thing...I will not miss those giant-size adboards over there. One letter equaled the size of a billboard you on on the highways.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 3:14 pm

JRod wrote:.

I digress... I think the level of journalism has degraded in europe is due to the sports tabloids. They sell not on their journalistic integrity or how well they cover a game. But rather on how salicious an article is. It doesn't hurt that they have topless women thrown into the mix increase sales. When these tabloids get more readers than the standard broad pages the quality and indepence will go down.

I find this quite astonishingly simplistic - compared to the mass of US papers, the quality press in Europe is stratospherically outstanding.

And as for the quality of your sports journalism...I hope for the sake of your sanity it's better than the crap that constantly cycles on CBS Sports and the like.

And as for topless women...coo, must be all of one paper that does that. Obviously the end of civilization as we know it.