world Cup 06

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Originally Posted by alan45

You are forgetting the small matter of Ecuador on Sunday. Any talk of progressing any further is wishful thinking at this stage

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i was wondering when someone would say that, yeh they do have to beat ecuador first but i was just stating the fact that another good point from winning the group is not only not having to play germany but also that by winning the group there is now a very very very high chance that they wont have to play argentina cos its highly likely argentina will also finish top of their group, thats what i didnt get about germany saying that they wanted to win their group so they didnt play us, well if i was germany id rather have played england than argentina, i know you have to get past the second round before you can even get into the quarterfinals but out of all the 32 teams only 1 can win, that means the other 31 are going to lose no matter whether they dont get past the group stages or whether they lose in the final, therefore surely youd want to be looking ahead and plan which is the best route to take to the finals, yes every team will want to play the easiest teams (obviously germany thought sweden were a better bet than england) but theres no point beating a weak team if youre then going to come up against one of the biggest teams in the round after that, surely it would be more intelligent to play 2 semi-good teams?

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Originally Posted by di marco

i was wondering when someone would say that, yeh they do have to beat ecuador first but i was just stating the fact that another good point from winning the group is not only not having to play germany but also that by winning the group there is now a very very very high chance that they wont have to play argentina cos its highly likely argentina will also finish top of their group, thats what i didnt get about germany saying that they wanted to win their group so they didnt play us, well if i was germany id rather have played england than argentina, i know you have to get past the second round before you can even get into the quarterfinals but out of all the 32 teams only 1 can win, that means the other 31 are going to lose no matter whether they dont get past the group stages or whether they lose in the final, therefore surely youd want to be looking ahead and plan which is the best route to take to the finals, yes every team will want to play the easiest teams (obviously germany thought sweden were a better bet than england) but theres no point beating a weak team if youre then going to come up against one of the biggest teams in the round after that, surely it would be more intelligent to play 2 semi-good teams?

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Sorry I wasnt getting at you but what I meant is that everyone is saying that Ecuador will be a walkover and the media are in their usual jingoistic form. Ecuador may be a more difficult match than folk realise and its certainly not a foregone conclusion.


.........Alan heads off to bookies to put a few quid on Ecuador.......:)

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Originally Posted by alan45

Sorry I wasnt getting at you but what I meant is that everyone is saying that Ecuador will be a walkover and the media are in their usual jingoistic form. Ecuador may be a more difficult match than folk realise and its certainly not a foregone conclusion.


.........Alan heads off to bookies to put a few quid on Ecuador.......:)

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Just to back up Alan on this.. Ecuador played without 4 of their top guys against the Germanys yesterday to rest them for the next round. If England plays they way they have been, it don't see them progressing... England has to pick up there game to get further

Quote:

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Originally Posted by alan45

Sorry I wasnt getting at you but what I meant is that everyone is saying that Ecuador will be a walkover and the media are in their usual jingoistic form. Ecuador may be a more difficult match than folk realise and its certainly not a foregone conclusion.


.........Alan heads off to bookies to put a few quid on Ecuador.......:)

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yeh i know you werent, just wanted to explain what i meant. i think people assume ecuador will be easy to beat just cos theyre a team that not many people have heard about before (well i dont mean heard about exactly but couldnt think of the word i wanted) i mean, theyve only been in the world cup once before and that time that went out in the first round, this year they have already proven that they are good enough to get through to the second round and managed to beat poland who although they may not be anywhere near the best team were expected to beat ecuador and come second in the group. also although germany werent playing that great but managed to beat ecuador 3-0 doesnt mean a lot when half of ecuadors first choice team werent playing so they could rest for the next round. although im fairly confident that england can beat ecuador if they play properly (although it will no dealt be harder now that owens out of it) i dont think that everyone should think they dont have to try, i think england have the ability to be the better team but they actually need to play to the standard they are capable of if they want to make sure that they proceed any further

i thought it was good match last night! It was well freaky at the beginning of the match i go to my bro, oh i bet Joe Cole :wub: will score tonight and then he did and when they sais they were bringing Steven Gerrard :wub: on i was like oh we'll start scoring goals now and then they did! lol OMG :eek: poor Michael Owen! it will be good though because now Theo can play to show us what hes made of! lol x

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Originally Posted by i-lov-joe-swash

poor Michael Owen! it will be good though because now Theo can play to show us what hes made of! lol x

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yeh its a shame about owen, hes going to be out for 5 months! :( i dont think theyll play theo though in his place, i think theyll play rooney and crouch and if they take one of them off then theyll only play 1 up front

England really make it a game of two halves. The last goal conceeded was poor defending and goal keeping.

Sven's decission to include Theo Walcott is coming back to haunt him. What he needs to do now is drop the dead donkeys from the team. Lampard, Beckham and Hargreaves (even though he had a decent game) must go. Lennon, Gerrard, and Rooney should be given priority. Even though Ronney is not at 100%, his 50% is better than most players.

Ecuador will be no walkover and England would do well not to take them lightly. Sven is a total moron for letting the wifes/girlfriends/family come and distract the players. They need to be 100% focused now and be building up that desire to win. Its a well known fact that sex before a match saps a players strength and aggresion. Most boxers go months without just so they are aggressive in the ring.

Theo was still not playing and I was beggining to get mixed up and started questioning myself, thinking was Theo 'bought' to play England and not some other club/country?!

Dad bet with his friends that J.Cole would score and he did so :D :p

This game was definatly better than the other two.. Good luck playing against Equador (sp?)!! Go England :D

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Originally Posted by alkalinetrio

all i now is god save the queen lol

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Same here!! We never were really taught (sp?) it or however your meant to learn it!! I think footballers should get a lesson on it though!!

hargreaves is a good player if more people gave him a chance instead of booing him all the time what really anoy me is if one person boos then the rest follow it was the same with crouch! i still dont agree on crouch being put straight in he cant play the attacking football we need yeah hes scored goals but the mount of chances hes had so far in world cup so far and hes fluffed them i know its big gamble but i wud chance theo hes got pase and if he was given a chance i reckon it wud be good

i agree on the wifes should be banned from going abroad with the players! btw if my writing seems bit weird cause i feel dizzy from drinking a little bit so i apoligise

Sven has a little problem, with no fit strikers. I bet hes regretting leaving Bent or Defoe at home and taking useless midfielders that will never get a game, hmm, Jenas. Poor Owen, it looks like 6 - 9 months, he must be gutted and so must newcastle i dont tink that he has really played for him, first his metatarsil and now this, hes having a rough time.