Soccer thread

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 12:08 am

Funny, you mention it Zep, I live only five minutes away from Swaggart Stadium in Burnaby, Canada which is one of the places the games will take place. Uruguay & Spain are some of the teams that will play in the West coast. I was in a mall with my baby today when there was an event celebrating the comimg tournament. Look forward to it.

Here are the groups and schedule:

http://www.fifa.com/en/comp/U20M2007/to ... 11,00.html

Macca00 · Post by **Macca00** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 1:58 pm

If you get a chance to see today's match West Ham vs. Tottenham please do - one of the matches of the season!

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 3:59 pm

Macca00 wrote:If you get a chance to see today's match West Ham vs. Tottenham please do - one of the matches of the season!

Thanks for the tip, Lavan! Spoiler-free, which is appreciated, too.

DVR is set.

Take care,
PK

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 5:27 pm

Macca00 wrote:If you get a chance to see today's match West Ham vs. Tottenham please do - one of the matches of the season!

Unbelievable!

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 7:10 pm

Not a good week for Barcelona. Out of the UEFA Cup by goal differential and a loss over the weekend for the Spanish Liga. Ronaldinho seems to be the guy everyone likes to blame lately and there's talk that he's been unfit in his latest matches.

Looks like D.Beckham will be out for a month and out of action for the local tournament and Champions League due to a knee injury. RM also suffers the loss of J. A Reyes. Two important players.

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 7:15 pm

Makaay scores a crazy goal in the Bayern-Real Madrid matchup!

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 10:40 pm

RobVarak wrote:Makaay scores a crazy goal in the Bayern-Real Madrid matchup!

crazy, just quick!

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 10:45 pm

10spro wrote:
Macca00 wrote:If you get a chance to see today's match West Ham vs. Tottenham please do - one of the matches of the season!
Unbelievable!

No heartbreaking. I'd turn away now if you haven't watched the game yet.

***** SPOILERS*******
I was rooting West Ham on and that was absolutely gutting for West Ham. Just gutting.

However, I thought the West Ham crowd was more into the game that the Liverpool crowd tuesday.

Macca00 · Post by **Macca00** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 11:14 pm

JRod wrote: However, I thought the West Ham crowd was more into the game that the Liverpool crowd tuesday.

WHAT??!!?! Are you kidding me?

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 11:32 pm

Macca00 wrote:
JRod wrote: However, I thought the West Ham crowd was more into the game that the Liverpool crowd tuesday.

WHAT??!!?! Are you kidding me?

LMAO did you have the sound on, JRod? The singing from the Kop never stopped. How they sang when all I could do was chew on my couch I do not know

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Thu Mar 08, 2007 2:04 am

RobVarak wrote:
Macca00 wrote:
JRod wrote: However, I thought the West Ham crowd was more into the game that the Liverpool crowd tuesday.

WHAT??!!?! Are you kidding me?
LMAO did you have the sound on, JRod? The singing from the Kop never stopped. How they sang when all I could do was chew on my couch I do not know

Maybe it was the camera angles. It seemed like West Ham crowd was dancing, shouting and going nuts. Liverpool's just seat in their seats. Ya ya, we all know they sing at Anfield.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Thu Mar 08, 2007 9:43 am

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 11:02 am

CL draw has been announced:

http://football.guardian.co.uk/champion ... 76,00.html

As a Liverpool supporter I am tempted to do the happy dance, but having gone out to Benfica last year I will settle for a momentary smirk.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 11:25 am

yea, Bayern and Milan for the billionth time in a row. Can Bayern please draw someone interesting? How about Liverpool?

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 12:21 pm

And don't underestimate Roma, they've been playing very well with F. Totti feeling 100%.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 1:14 pm

T. Henry will be sidelined for the next three months (groin and stomach muscle) and will miss some league action including the qualifying for France's chances at Euro 08.

Big loss for Arsenal.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 11:16 am

The most quality individual in the Premiership is in trouble with the law again:

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Sto ... 37,00.html

I think a cage match between Barton and Craig Bellamy would decide the heavyweight prat champion of the EPL, once and for all.

DaveT, is Barton really this big of a dick, or is he a target, too?

Take care,
PK

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 7:57 pm

OK gang, tomorrow at noon eastern, we play Ecuador in Tampa, to be followed with a game vs. Guatemala in Dallas at 9p EDT on Wednesday. What to expect? I don't know. Will mini-Bradley play? Will Feilhaber? Perhaps Ching, who was very effective for Houston in the recent first-leg against Pachuca? Will Kenny Cooper get more time? Will we see Jonathan Spector, Fank Simek, or Jay DeMerit get some time? I believe we beat Ecuador the last time we played them, and that was the first win in 9 tries against them.

The big question I have is why noon for goodness' sake, and in Tampa no less? Must be a Gulati special, only he could come up with something so illogical and self-defeating. I mean, will anyone west of the Eastern time zone actually see this thing?

Good luck boys, take it to 'em.

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 10:09 pm

pk500 wrote:The most quality individual in the Premiership is in trouble with the law again:

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Sto ... 37,00.html

I think a cage match between Barton and Craig Bellamy would decide the heavyweight prat champion of the EPL, once and for all.

DaveT, is Barton really this big of a dick, or is he a target, too?

Take care,
PK

Runs in the family, as Joey Barton is actually the well-behaved brother. His little brother is an axe murderer, literally.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/engl ... 477156.stm

And if you decided cage-match champions of the EPL, don't leave out good ol' Lee Bowyer.

GB_Simo · Post by **GB_Simo** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 11:02 pm

We interrupt this broadcast etc.

I'm practically silent in this thread because, believe it or not, I'm an Englishman who isn't really interested in football unless my beloved HUFC are involved, but since I don't pimp them anywhere near enough, those of you without a team to support and with an interest in matters outside the Premiership might want to come and join me:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... efault.stm

Top of the league, unbeaten in 21 matches to get there and, well, we're going to blow it. Gallant failure is what Hartlepool United do, see. In fact, since this link will always take you to the latest League Two table, this can be your one-stop shop to watch us do just that. We frittered away a 14 point lead in 2002/03 so losing a 3 point gap shouldn't be any problem, but all the same, it'd be lovely if one or two of you could root for my boys as they chase the first piece of silverware since the club was formed.

In 1908.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming...

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 2:11 pm

Well, someone sure lit a fire under Landycakes! My goodness!

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 3:35 pm

RobVarak wrote:Well, someone sure lit a fire under Landycakes! My goodness!

Holy hell what a performance. Even if he had not scored any goals he was still the most effective man on the pitch. That said, all 3 of the goals were extremely well taken. He could've had as many as 5 goals today had it not been for an excellent save by the Ecuadorian keeper on one break, and criminal tug from behind on the edge of the area (how could the ref not card the defender for that?! that was borderline red card IMO).

The other thing I was really watching for today was the midfield. Fielhaber started out very poorly, but got stronger as the game went on. The US midfield certainly looked a whole lot better in the 2nd half when Mini-Bradley came in, but I'm not sure how much of that was due to Ecuador tiring. Pretty remarkable to think it was 19 year old and a 21 year old holding down the center of the park for the USA. I really like Bradley's game too. Holds the ball extremely well, which is something US soccer in general sorely lacks.

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 3:40 pm

Wow, no kidding, Rob! More surprising to me was Bradley going with the diamond midefield formation, if only for a half. I think that's the best place for Donovan, right behind the forwards where he can run at goal from the midfield, yet stay central and see a lot of the ball, while being free to roam. But as Coach Arena said, he is both the best midfielder and the best forward (when he is on his game), so where do you put him?

There could have been a few more goals for us, and to be fair Ecuador had a few finishes lacking as well. Howard was very solid, except for that one miscommunication with Onyewu. Listening to the US odcast interview with him, it's clear he has the right attitude on the long road through qualification. Although when he says he will just let 'nature take its course' I'm not sure he meant that as a dig at Keller's age, but hey that's the reality.

Meanwhile, Keller, in his podcast interview, did indeed sound mighty pissed at MLS for talks stalling. He said he was fully planning on coming over in the summer, once his contract with Mönchengladbach is up, and started talks with MLS that have gone nowhere. Naples mentioned to me one possible explanation is that he wants Reyna money, and I just don't see that happening for a keeper, even if it's Keller. If there were a team in Portland or Seattle, maybe, but even Keller mentioned a list of what he thought were very strong US goalkeepers, and most of them are MLSers, so I just don't see DP money being spent on a keeper. RBNY got Waterus for peanuts, and though I'm sure Zegna was paid a lot to come to NE, that was a long time ago, in MLS terms. Personally, I'd love to see Keller in the league, and I think he would do a lot for the game here. With no one using the DP spot, why not? I hope it happens.

Very nice to see Mini get some time. That kid is going to be very good for us, I believe. Interesting in the pdcast with Spector to hear how close they are, having been friends and playing on the same teams since youth in Chi-town, going to Bradenton at the same time, and so on.

Left back remains a mystery. Boca can be a stop-gap, but he was very eposed over there and was invisible on the offensive end.

This game could have gone either way for a while, and that second half was very nice to see. That last goal was freaking awesome.

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 3:56 pm

Zeppo wrote:Left back remains a mystery. Boca can be a stop-gap, but he was very eposed over there and was invisible on the offensive end.

Now that you mention it, I'm kinda surprised that Pearce did not play today. I'm getting tired of Boca out there. The man needs to be in the center.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 6:34 pm

Hartlepool to come up on the bounce?