Neowin's Official World Cup 2006 Thread

[BigGiantHead]

Though the Ukrainians 2nd penalty was great.

[Slimy]

I dunno guys, Ukraine vs Italy? Could be anyone's game! But I'm more pumped for tomorrow's Brazil and Ghana game as well as France vs Spain :D

[Shibby]

What a poor match.

The best bit was when Gary said

Ukraine get to play another game, The Swiss they take the ... plane

i just bursted out laughing with the break before he said plane, he made it sound like he wanted to say **** lol

[qdave]

noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!! how could have swiss lost in the damn penalty shootouts :( i am speechless.

[crazy@5$]

WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

I broke out into a sweat at the penalties, it was so intense!!!

UKRAINE MADE IT INTO THE FINAL EIGHT IN THEIR FIRST WORLD CUP!!!!!!!!!

[L3thal Veteran]

It was a pretty even game all along. Shame one of them had to lose, especially making no penalty kicks.

[raider360]

W0000000000000ohoooo

I LOVE YOU UKRAINE

УРААААААААААааааааааааааааааааа!!! МОЛОДЦЫ! Нет слов! Мы снова выйграли =)

[.mcman]

W0000000000000ohoooo

I LOVE YOU UKRAINE

УРААААААААААааааааааааааааааааа!!! МОЛОДЦЫ! Нет слов! Мы снова выйграли =)

Поздравляю! :)

Can't wait for the tomorrow's games...

[mariusu]

this was indeed a poor match

ukraine was in the end more lucky than the swiss...how in the world could they miss three penalties???

[Krpano]

Its too bad that Shevechenko is always so alone in the attack.

They need better midfielders.

Congrats Ukraine for the qualification.

[qdave]

ukraine was in the end more lucky than the swiss...how in the world could they miss three penalties???

yeah that what i was wondering as well!

Мы снова выйграли =)

and there wont be next time :D

[L3thal Veteran]

I am looking forward to tomorrow's games. The games promise to deliver us high quality football (I'd never think I'd say football instead of soccer :p).

[P.M.K]

oh god how BORING swissvs ukraine game is. unbelievable :(

btw great that ausies lost :D

Can I ask why it was it great that Australia lost??

That game should have gone to penalties too!

[nexx]

The general consensus here in Australia was that it didnt matter if we won or not, our team did very well on the world stage and it's been a HUGE boost for soccer/football in the country . I really wanted a clean match without diving or referee influence (unlike our other games) and we nearly had that until the 93rd minute. It's really dissapointing and annoying that we are kicked out due to a questionable penalty, and not because the other team played better (which imo, they didn't).

Kudos to both teams, they played well. It's a shame to see games decided this way.

[Shibby]

Aus should of gone to extra time.

That was no way a pen.

The refree's in this world cup i say are pretty poor with to many bookings, sending offs and some soft pens being given

[bigbluepride35]

Though I'm an Italy fan all the way and I won't apologize for winning I agree that the refereeing overall has been horrendous (and that penalty was questionable lol). I don't think Grosso dove. He seemed to genuinely trip over the guy's back though I don't think that's a foul. A tough way to lose a game for sure. My question, though, why did the Australian defender go down anyway? If he stayed up and in front he wouldn't even have risked that. While it's sad that a good game has to end on a somewhat questionable call I'm not complaining lol. Man that close up shot of Totti's eyes before he took the shot was intense. Seeing the focus and intensity almost gave me goosebumps lol. The Italians had more quality chances IMO but just couldn't finish (Toni couldn't BUY a goal) even though Australia may have dominated possession (which would be expected with a man advantage for nearly the entire second half). The red for Materazzi was harsh too though I think. Buffon played incredibly.

That Netherlands-Portugal game was ridiculous and when there are new records for the number of yellow and red cards issued with 12 games to go (that was BEFORE today's matches) there's something seriously wrong. And Figo not getting carded for that headbutt was despicable IMO. A play that truly DESERVED a card and the ref AND his assistants missed it. PLUS, you have a ref giving one player three yellows in a game. That particular incident just perfectly portrays the qualtiy of refereeing of this tourney so far. These refs have taken the FIFA mandate to clean up the games waaaay too far.

Just a note: Through four World Cup games the Azzurri have only conceded one goal and it was an own goal. So opposing teams have not scored in four games. I'm happy about that :) .

[ipodman715]

Here's a video of the penalty shootout.

*Spoiler warning btw*

[jedimasterk]

Bend it like Beckham!!. Glad to see him get the goal!. From an American!. Since US is out of it now. Cheering for our brothers in the UK!!!!. :D

[L3thal Veteran]

Just a note: Through four World Cup games the Azzurri have only conceded one goal and it was an own goal. So opposing teams have not scored in four games. I'm happy about that :) .

Think that is impressive? Switzerland allowed 0 goals over 4 games and 30 minutes before losing in penalty kicks. So technically, they left the World Cup without allowing a goal.

[golazo]

fifa ****ed australia up the ass, they didnt want us there so they give us the toughest run possible. we have the toughest qualification campaign, ****ed in the ass by the ref in japan game with nakamura goal when should have been a free kick, ****ed in the ass by the refs at the brazil game (brazil would have won anyway but the refs didnt make it any easier for us) and 3 ****ing clear ****ing penalties in the ****ing croatia match turned down and a disallowed goal at the end (which didnt really matter since we were through anyway) and then diving ****s "azzuri" fags cheat to win a game, they were getting dominated and knew the only way to win was by cheating. shame on the ref and shame on grosso, hopefully ukraine injure totti and grosso for being smartasses (prefferably broken legs) and then italy get thrashed by argentina in the semis and get thrashed by brasil for third place!!! im totally ****ed off, i now know what england fans felt with maradona hand of god, im totally disgusted to have italian heritage right now, my family says take that aussies, i say get ****ed u wog diving ****s, i hate my family and all italians now, go socceroos

as an italian supporter myself, i think the referee just screwed the game over, the red card shouldn't have existed, a yellow card maybe, but a red card, please

you dont think it was a red card?!? it could have been 3 ****ing red cards for 1 tackle!!!

firstly, fouling a player thats charging his way towards a clear goal is always a red card... 2nd, 2 feet challenge = red card.. 3rd studs were up = red card.

what really ****ed off is the hand ball down one end that wasnt called and then a penalty down the other end, for bull**** that should have only been a indirect fk at most. ohwell, fifa got what they wanted

Edited June 27, 2006 by SeMz...

[Kcp8c30d]

since my topic was deleted by a person who thinks korea would've lost...

:angry:

(IMG:http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/5838/worldcuphowunfair1rm.gif)

I found this at a korean website, just wanted opinions.

Also , is it that hard to get a ref who is vietnamese, chinese, japanese , korean or any other ethnicity?

Trying to diverse the refs here.

And how about a ref who isnt married or has a relative that lives in swiss? Even the head of fifa is from switzerland.

See where Im going with this? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/huh.gif)

Also, alot of koreans in other korean forums agree that this was fixed or in favor of swiss.

I would like to thank Ukraine for shutting them out.

And theres a topic called " racism in soccer" that has its own thread, wonder why its not closed?

:rolleyes:

[Martyn]

I am looking forward to tomorrow's games. The games promise to deliver us high quality football (I'd never think I'd say football instead of soccer :p).

He's turning :woot:! Today does indeed look good, Brazil v Ghana will be an entertaining game and I anticipate that it will be very open. Spain v France matches two good team's together from around the same region in Europe, so that will be fun!

Then we go on a two day break though, how will I survive :(?

[T.Barl0w]

about yesterdays games. Austrailer must be gutted after goin out to what was blatenly a dive from the itallian player. as for the other match i thort it was soooooooo boring and got board of it so turnd it off and tuned back in for penalties. the only action that i an remember happening in normall time is shevenko hitting the bar other than that nothing. the penalties were enev abismal, however saying that you gotta have sum guts to go up there and take one, and even more so to do one like the second Ukrainen.

[leesmithg]

since my topic was deleted by a person who thinks korea would've lost...

:angry:

(IMG:http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/5838/worldcuphowunfair1rm.gif)

I found this at a korean website, just wanted opinions.

Also , is it that hard to get a ref who is vietnamese, chinese, japanese , korean or any other ethnicity?

Trying to diverse the refs here.

And how about a ref who isnt married or has a relative that lives in swiss? Even the head of fifa is from switzerland.

See where Im going with this? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/huh.gif)

Also, alot of koreans in other korean forums agree that this was fixed or in favor of swiss.

I would like to thank Ukraine for shutting them out.

And theres a topic called " racism in soccer" that has its own thread, wonder why its not closed?

:rolleyes:

Well if you think the match was fixed you should go and find recordings of the 2002 world cup.

Korea got a lot of decisions go their way for some strange reason.

If you wish to complain about racism and cheating in football then write to F.I.F.A. and E.U.F.A.

I could go on about how in 1986 a referee saw Maradonna hand ball the football over Peter Shiltons fist into an empty net and gave a goal.

The Sol Campbell header against Argentina which was given off side even though he was level.

The Sol Campbell header disallowed against Portugal in the 2004 european championships which by what I saw the goal keeper jumped into him.

We could be here all day calling refs cheats. The football players that faine injury and dive all over the place is what you should be complaining about.

[Krpano]

Yahoooo, Brasil plays in 5 hrs...

Go 5 stars champion !!!

Btw L3thal,

My wife offered me and official Portugal shirt.

Cant wait till 1st July to celebrate the semi-finals. :D