The Spanish Bottled It Yet Again, Eh?

Spanish Armada Stopped By The French

AWD Arena

SPAIN 1 - 3 FRANCE

Scorers:
ESP - D. Villa (pen 28min);
FRA - F. Ribery (41min), P. Vieira (83min), Z. Zidane (90+1min);

When I saw Joaquin and Luis Garcia coming on for David Villa and Raul, I saw it coming, maybe you knew what's going to happen as well. Negativity was the word. As I have stated on my previous post, Spain is notorious for screwing up big games and bottling it and this time round, no difference and their armada have come to an abrupt end, after an encouraging start to the tournament while the French stuttered and were lucky to get into the 2nd round after some inept performance against the South Koreans and Switzerland. But the French had the last laugh as they put up thier best performance so far to put an end to Spain's hope.

(Shame, I loved that jersey and was about to buy it...should I?)

Spain seemed to stamp authority early in the game as they passed the ball around smoothly with Xavi, Fabregas and Xabi Alonso in the middle of the park and Raul playing just behind Torres and Villa. The French seemed to struggle a little at the beginning as Fernando Torres constantly uses his pace and ran at the ageing French defence consisting of Thuram and Gallas.

I wasn't long before Spain found the opening. Pablo Ibanez was fouled in the French penalty area by Lilian Thuram and referee, Roberto Rosetti point straight to the spot with much conviction. It was David Villa to step up and he calmly smashed the ball past Barthez into his right hand post. Advantage Spain, early in the game.


The French to be honest, looked a little disjointed and they actually left Henry isolated up on top and the closest player are Zidane and Ribery. He could've won himself an award for the most number of offsides in a game when he constantly got caught offside by the Spanish offside trap. But there were a few moments were the Spanish defence was caught square and needed some intervention from Puyol and Ramos to stop the French from breaking. But against the run of play, the French found a way past the untidy Spanish defence. The defence was caught up field with sixes and sevens and Zidane managed to thread a throughball to the onrushing Ribery, who's had a fine game. He rounded Iker Casillas before firing home his first goal in the tournament. Therefore both teams going into the break one apiece.

The French came out a little more positive in the second half, perhaps taking the inspiration from Ribery's goal. Zidane showed more of his old self and was the pivot of all the French attacks while Ribery was lively throughout and seemed to be on form and raring to go. Spanish however became a little complacent and a change by Luis Aragones means the formation of the team have been changed and they went from a 4-3-1-2 into a negative 4-5-1 with Joaquin and Luis Garcia supporting lone striker, Fernando Torres.

Suddenly France found themselves ahead just 6 minutes before time as Spain paid for Puyol's silly action, but to be honest Henry went to the ground a little too easy, as if he got shot by a sniper. Henry and Puyol were chasing for the ball while Pernia was already back covering and will get to the ball. But Puyol had his elbow into Henry's chest and the French striker went down. Yellow card for Puyol and a freekick for the French. Zidane delivered and found Vieira on the back post. He headed goalwards and although Casillas might have saved it, Sergio Ramos deflected the header into the net. That's the punishment for not putting the French under pressure.

As Spain poured forward to find the equaliser, Spain's offside trap failed once again as they were caught out by Zidane's perfectly timed run as he took the ball into the box, skipped past Puyol and buried the ball past his Real Madrid team mate, Iker Casillas. A fantastic finish from a legendary player, whom we thought was already past his sell-out date. He once again showed that he IS still the player that could bring glory to France.

Poor substitution decisions from Aragones cost Spain the game, I fear. Let's not take the credit away from the French though. They played well and actually managed to limit the Spanish to only a few shots on goal and Barthez was rarely troubled. Zidane was immense and Ribery has improved greatly from the first few games, where he was disappointing. Tough luck Spain, as the under-achiever tag's gonna stay with them for another 2 years until they start to perform in th European Championship in 2008.

Quater-Finals (WC '98 Finals Once Again):

1st July
FRANCE vs BRAZIL
3am

Tags: World Cup 2006, Football, Soccer, France, Spain, Les Bleus

Go Get Some Shooting Practice, Ghana

World Champion Ease Past Ghana

Dortmund

BRAZIL 3 - 0 GHANA

Scorers:
BRA - Ronaldo (5min), Adriano (45min), Ze Roberto (84 min);

You doubted him. You criticized him. He comes back bigger (no pun intended!), stronger and scoring important goals. He is Ronaldo. One of the most talented footballer in modern era and today, he broke Gerd Muller's World Cup goal scoring record by scoring his 3rd of the current World Cup and the 15th in the all time World Cup goal scoring charts. He might have put on some weight over the years, but his predator instinct has never been a doubt and today, he silenced all the critics yet again and scoring Brazil's first in the last 16 match against African, Ghana.

Instead of looking at Brazil, why not let's change the topic and talk about Ghana. Quite honestly, Brazil's hype bores me and I'm actually hoping they won't be in the finals this time round. Kill me if you want! Okay anyway I thought Ghana did really well throughout the game, but a few fundamental mistakes costed them the game and their finishing was simply, horrendous. I believe any half decent striker would have scored at least a goal against the Brazillians today as they looked extremely vulnerable. Their constant blasting of ball irks me and they just couldn't find a way past Dida, who was quite magnificent and saved Brazil's blushes.

Another of Ghana's problem was the defence. They are FAR too indiscplined to play the off-side trap and they got punished for it. Their 'trap' was all over the place and the first goal from Ronaldo was down to the positioning of the line of defenders. If you want to play off-side trap against Brazil, you have to be extremely disciplined and defenders have to communicate well. From what I have seen, Brazil seemed to struggle a bit when they're up against a team with men behind ball, teams like Croatia did well to stifle the Brazillian flair with their men behind ball and man-marking system. To play against a team with excellent passing, technique in the middle and pace upfront, it's suicidal to play offside trap against.

And that offside trap created more problem for the Ghanians rather than the Brazillians as Adriano raced on to Ze Roberto's through ball and he took the ball past the goalkeeper, Kingson. Kingson seemed to have tripped Adriano and looked more convincing than the Italian penalty yesterday, the referee gave Adriano a yellowcard instead for diving and it's a disappointing decision. But he seemed to even things up later when Adriano was awarded a goal which is scored in an offside position. The Ghanian defence was once again tore apart and Cafu with his marauding run down the right, centered the ball for Adriano to tap it in. It was clearly offside, but the referee gave it and it was 2-0 just before half time.

It was not the most ill-disciplined match in the World Cup, but still the referee managed to get his red card out yet again. Asamoah Gyan was sent off for second bookable offence. The first yellow card was a little harsh and the second was for a blatant dive and rightly so. I think it's time to stamp out on the diving and cheating because it's getting on many people's nerves.

Ghana is no pushover really. Like Australia yesterday, they actually had more of the ball than Brazil did and the only problem with them was that they didn't turn their possesion into goals. Sounds familiar? Yea, they had chances, but they weren't clinical enough, unlike the Brazillians. It's nice to see a World Cup debutant performing well in such a big match, against the world champion and actually causing the defence lot's of trouble. They stiffled Ronaldinho well and leasen his influence in the game. The absence of Mikael Essien was a blow, but they still do extremely well with Muntari and Appiah starring in the midfield.

Remember the goal Argentina scored against S&M, where they strung a move with 24 passes and finished the move with Cambiasso's left foot drive? Well, today Brazil triump that move with their own version of it and it consisted of 25 passes, 1 more than the Argentina. Once again the Ghanian off-side trap sprung opened and Ze Roberto was one on one with the keeper. He tapped the ball over the keeper before tapping the ball into an empty net. It was harsh for the Africans, who I think really don't deserve to lose by that much of a margin. But Brazil were just too strong and clinical.

Ghana was taught a lesson of football by the masters. That's how I'm gonna sum up the match. Possesion doesn't win you games but putting the ball into the net. Brazil showed us that they don't need much of the ball to actually finish teams off. Not a brilliant performance by the Brazillians, but a professional one and good bye Ghana, I think we'll see you again in 4 year's time.

Tags: World Cup 2006, Football, Soccer, Brazil, Ghana

Last Night's Action & Today's Match Preview

Inexperience Cost Swiss A Place In The Last 8:

Cologne

Full Time:
SWITZERLAND 0 - 0 UKRAINE

Penalty Shoot-Out:

SWITZERLAND 0 - 3 UKRAINE

SUI - Streller (MISS), Barnetta (MISS), Cabanas (MISS);
UKR - Shevchenko (MISS), Milevsky (SCORE), Rebrov (Score), Gusev (SCORE);

Quater Finals Fixture:

June 30th
ITALY vs UKRAINE

3am

Dortmund

BRAZIL vs GHANA

Brazillian forward, Robinho will most likely sit out for this match as he's carrying an injury. The Real Madrid player suffered an ankle injury and hasn't been training for days. Ghana too, have absentees from their squad. Inspirational midfielder, Mickael Essien will miss this game as he picked up a 2nd booking last week against USA. It will be a blow to Ghana, as they need to be at their best if they are to get something out of this game, against the reigning world champion.

Drogballs' Prediction: Brazil 2 - 1 Ghana. Brazil's defence have been quite vulnerable to counter attacks and pace. Therefore Asamoah Gyan wll look to have a run at the Brazillian defence. Although their attack haven't been up to their standards, the Brazillian flair will be hard to defend against.

AWD Arena

SPAIN vs FRANCE

Real Betis winger, Joaquin might start this game along with Raul and Cesc Fabregas. He came on as a substitute against Tunisia and impressed while he had a good game against Saudi Arabia. France's talismanic midfielder cum captain, Zinedine Zidane should be back in the first 11 after he got suspended for the last match and had to watch from the sidelines. This will prove to be a huge psychological boost to the French. But will the return of Zizou disrupting the French's plan of continuing with their 4-4-2 formation. We could only wait and see.

Drogballs' Prediction: Spain 1 - 1 France (Spain to win in Extra Time). Well as a Spanish supporter of course I would want them to finish off the French in normal time. But we all know Spain always let people down and fail to turn up for important games. Let's hope this will be an exception.

Tags: World Cup 2006, Football, Soccer, Switzerland, Ukraine, Spain, France, Les Bleus, Brazil, Ghana

The Japanese Are Crazy Part #14456832

We all know that the Japanese are a very weird bunch of people. I don't know what better words to use to describe them other than perculiar. Oh anyway rivand gave me a link to the youtube video of their variety show. After watching it you'll surely ask, WTF? Variety show?! Oh yes it's a definitely MUST WATCH for everyone and have a laugh. It's freakishly funny and a little demented. How sick can they get?!

Part I:



Part II:



HAHAH. I shall comment no more. Sick yet creative! Hats off to you Japoonese!

Tags: Humour, Japanese Portable Toilet, Japanese Variety Show

Steps On How To Make Your Own World Cup Balls

Make Your Own TeamGeist!

Haha, so Sylvia sent me an email on how to make your very own TeamGeist, which is the official World Cup ball. I'm sure it's by kennysia.com, a famous blogger from Malaysia but it's on my email so I shall post it for all of you. It's brilliant and maybe some of you don't know where they got the designs of the ball from. Well, it comes from a very product that is intimate to ladies...shy-ed away from the guys...uhm yea.

Yea, this is how the ball looks like.

The price...it's over-priced to be honest.

That's why kennysia is teaching you the DIY steps.

1. Get a football, any football. Just not those plastic ones you get from the mama store, eh.

2. Paint the ball white. Have to be white!

3. Uhm, yea expect the unexpected. Get a box of kotex.....

4. Stick em on the ball, follow the patterns below.

5. Use a marker or colour pens or whathaveyou, draw it like this. Beware of the Adidas logo though, you might get sued!

6. Do a comparison and last check on the ball. Does it look similar? If yes, then you have successfully made your very own TeamGeist!!

Hahaha fecking brilliant. A work of the genuis, kennysia that is. Credits will be to him of course with his brilliant creativity and taking his time to do up this..informative piece of article. Oh and of course THANK YOU SYLVIA for sending me the email. She asked me to credit her anyway so there you go.

Tags: Humour, TeamGeist

Socceroos Heartbreak As Italians Did The Italian 'ROB'

Heartbreak, Socceroos....


Fritz Walter Stadion

Italy 1 - 0 Australia

Scorer:
ITA - F. Totti (pen 90+3 min);

Sent Off:
ITA - M. Materazzi (51min);

Dubious, dubious decisions by the referee yet again, for the gazillionth time in this World Cup. The standard of football is decent, but the refereeing standard is p*ss poor. A game decided by a penalty given 5 SECONDS before the final whistle? If it's a stonewall penalty then there won't be complain, but what a sh*t penalty to give away. I think any half-decent referee would have waved it away and let the game play on.

But this time the referee presumably melting in the summer heat, wants the game to end within 90 minutes and therefore awarded a dubious penalty right at the dot of full time and leaving Australia with no chance of a come-back.

Fabio Grosso, the Italian left back barged into the penalty box and Lucas Neil, who had an outstanding game tried to cover the angle by stretching his body wide and Grosso took the ball past him and he ran onto the body of Neil and fell over instead of what the referee believed, which is Lucas Neil fouled him. It was right at the end of the injury time and Francesco Totti stepped up and fired the penalty into the top right corner of Mark Schwarzer's net. Game over for the Aussies, who fought and contained the Italians well throughout the game and all you could say is, they're just pure unlucky.

In the starting 5 minutes of the game, the Australians made themselves feel at home with a whopping possesion percentage of 72% and were quick to close down the Italians when they're on the ball. Italians had no choice but to resort to long ball tactics and pumping balls to Luca Toni and Alberto Gilardino. They did create a few decent chance with Toni and Gilardino coming close, but they were far too cautious for my liking and always had around 7-8 players within their own half. The referee made another shocking decision that is to sent off Marco Materazzi in the 51st minute.

To be honest I saw nothing but just a yellow card offence or did the ref sent him off for tackling his own player? He slid in and caught Zambrotta as well, so I presume it was for that offence. So Italians down to 10 men and they as anticipated, started their 'catenacio' mode and camped within their own half and left Del Piero and Iaquinta up front. To be very honest with you, the entire second half looked as if it was played in the Italian half with almost the entire Australian team surrounding the Italian turtle. But strange enough was that the Australians didn't try their luck and hit shots from range and instead, they tried to put ball into the Italian box, which was well-marshalled by captain fantatic, Fabio Cannavaro.

Other than the sporadic attack on the Australian goal, all they did was to soak up all the pressure from Australia and you have to wonder why the Aussies didn't try luck from range. Their killer balls in the box obviously doesn't work and crosses into the box are not really a big threat to them, with Buffon commanding the area brilliantly.

But sometimes you pay for not finishing the game off. Dilly-dallying with the ball and showed little urgency, the Italians got their chance from a dubious decision, but that's football, it's how you take you chances and putting the ball into the net, not how much possesion you have and how dominant you are. You might sympathise the Socceroos like I do, but to be honest they failed to turn their dominance into a goal and was punished. No matter how sh*t the referee 's decision might be, at the end of the day it's just about finishing your chances.

Credits to the Italians too. I might be harsh to say they robbed the Aussie, but they defended supremely and you could see why they're famed for their defensive tactic. Their formation when they're without the ball looked so compact and every players knows exactly where they must be positioned. Look at the number of passes cut out by the defence and crosses cleared and you could see that they're a strong defensive unit and are extremely disciplined. But defence won't win you games, so start scoring Italy, or the game against Switzerland or Ukraine is not going to be a walk in the park.

Tags: World Cup 2006, Football, Soccer, Italy, Australia, Socceroos, Last 16

Yet Another Referee Blunder....

Note: My nightmare has started, that is my school term starts again and therefore I might not be able to post the latest match updates again until the Semi Finals. But of course I'll keep this site updated so no worries, continue to drop by and THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!


21 Fouls, 16 Yellow Cards And 4 Red Cards

Frankenstadion

Portugal 1 - 0 Netherlands

Scorer:
POR - Maniche (23 min);

Sent Off:

POR - Costinha (45min):

HOL - K. Boulahrouz (62min):

POR - Deco (77min):

HOL - G. van Bronckhorst (90min):

Oh yes, Portugese captain, Luis Figo might also miss the match against England after being caught head-butting Holland's Mark van Bommel.


When he didn't score , he whines. When he loses a game, he cries. When he's substituted, he cries too. When he's being substituted due to injury, HE BLOODY CRIED AGAIN. God, what a crybaby. Even the commentator who's serious most of the time laughed at him being a big wussy. I think we'll see him cry again, this Saturday most presumably and I would love to see that. Oh, there are plenty of chances, I tell ya!

Oh, and how can I ommit this lady below from the hottest WAGS (Wives And Girlfriends). She's Sylvie van der Vaart, wife of Dutch midfielder, Rafael van der Vaart.

One of the most eventful match up this World Cup and is set to be a talking point in years to come, when FIFA decides to make a documentary on the past World Cups. A total of 21 fouls (NOT ALOT, SERIOUSLY) which warrented 16 yellow cards and 4 red cards. I think the Russian referee, Valentin Ivanov clearly lost control of the game and had gone bonkers.

Some of the yellow card offence looked a litle too harsh and it's a joke. How could this happen in a World Cup, and in such an important match, with millions of people viewing. He makes Graham Poll looks competent and Heskey a world class player. It's farcical and the refereeing standards in this World Cup is getting from bad to worst. FIFA, you really need to set things straight NOW and make radical changes, before football is being turned into a game for....Cristiano Ronaldos.

So now Portugal would have to play England in the quater finals without Deco and Costinha. While Cristiano Crybaby Ronaldo might miss the game due to injury and Luis Figo MIGHT be suspended for the head-butt on Mark van Bommel. And with most of their players on a yellow card, they'll be walking on tight-ropes as they will try not to get themselves suspended and have to play safe. This leaves England with a huge advantage and Portugal might find themselves a little stretched, if Ronaldo and Figo are not available.

Quater-Finals #2:

1st July
England vs Portugal
11pm

Tags: World Cup 2006, Football, Soccer, Portugal, Netherlands, Holland

Another Exciting Game From The English!

Beckham Rescues England

Gottlieb-Daimler Stadion

England 1 - 0 Ecuador

Scorer:
ENG - D. Beckham (60 min);

I know, you sense the sarcasm in the title. It's not an exciting game by any account from the English again, and again, and again. But they have now ensured a place in the quater finals facing either Netherlands or Portugal. So Sven lived to fight another day but they looked unconvincing and dispirited. There was no real passion from the players and it looked as though they're passing through motion. No conviction to be concise.

Yet again, what an inept performance by some of the English players, especially FRANK LAAAAAAMPAAAAARRDD!! Erm you wondered why I type like that, well it's because that's how the commentator would react when Lampard is in range and launch one of those long-shots of his. For the fourth time in a row, he didn't wear his shooting boots and his shooting accuracy is laughable. What more does he offers other than shooting from long range, honestly speaking? Does he play a killer pass when he's outside the box? No, all he just do is...smash the ball and hoping it'll take a deflection and go into the net. Sadly for him, this time round he isn't as lucky as he was when he's wearing that blue Samsung jersey of his.

Oh, and John Terry. The usually reliable centre-back had a bad game against Sweden and now he nearly gifted the Ecuadorians the opening. Rio Ferdinand challenged the ball with Augustin Delgado and the ball fell awkwardly to Terry, who wasn't positioned well enough and all he could do is hook it backwards and it fell nicely for Carlos Tenario. He was in the perfect positioned, one on one with Paul Robinson, but his first touch wasn't the best. He still managed to let fly a volley right infront of Paul Robinson, but Ashley Cole appeared from nowhere to make a crucial block and thwarted the ball's direction, as it went off the bar and out. A close shave for England, as they commited more players forward and the lapse of concentration from the backline nearly costed them.

It was a fairly dull match after that, as England couldn't find an opening in the Ecuadorian defence and for most of the match, Rooney looked isolated by the midfielders and was doing work all by his own up front. Lampard was shooting from range and wasting possesion, Gerrard was a little off-form and Beckham...his delivery and crosses were extremely poor for his standard. But when it's time for the England captain to step up and silence the critics, he did it in style.


Lampard finally did something of note and that's to earn a free-kick just outside the Ecuador penalty area and that position suits Beckham's free-kick perfectly. With the weight of the nation's expectation on his shoulder, he dispatched a wonderful free-kick into the bottom right corner of Cristian Mora's net. It was inch perfect and just between Mora's fingertips and the post. Once again, Beckham rescued the English side and the fans breathed a collective sigh of relief.

If the game was to play beyond extra-time, the pressure on the English will be greater and how many times have we seen England lose in a penalty shoot-out? It was a crucial goal for the English as they just struggled to find any chance to break down the stubborn Ecuadorian defence.

England could've and should've gotten a second if not for Frank Lampard's terible miss. Rooney finally found a way past Ivan Hurtado as he jinked past the defender and set up a wonderful chance for Lampard to finish it, but once again, he blasted it high over the bar and it looked like a rugby conversion.

Anyway congratulations to the 3 Lions. They played like Bolton, but win like Chelsea. Boring, uninspired, yet effective...well maybe not REALLY. But it was a win and a very important one, as England is now one step closer to reclaiming the prestigious World Cup that have been eluding them since 1966. This might be the year, but based on their performance, they'll be lucky to get through the next round. Yet, who am I to comment on their chances. Football is unpredictable and sometimes you'll never know. Just keep hoping. And stop Lampard from blasting balls that is :D

Tags: World Cup 2006, Soccer, Football, England, Ecuador, David Beckham

After Watching The Replay Of The Match, Argentina Is Not Unbeatable

Maxi Rodriguez Stunner Breaks Mexican Hearts

Zentralstadion

Argentina 1 - 1 Mexico

After Extra Time:
Argentina 2 - 1 Mexio

Scorers:
ARG - H. Crespo (10min), M. Rodriguez (98min);
MEX - R. Marquez (5min);

What a cracking match! Missed the live match yesterday so sat down to watch the replay and I must say it's a fairly enjoyable game to watch, with both teams playing fast paced football and neither of them playing negatively. Credits to where it's due, the Mexicans as the underdog for this match, stiffled Argentina's attack very well and it was they themselves who found the net first, through their omni-potent captain, Rafael Marquez.

The Barcelona defender / midfielder / forward / whatever position he's playing in scored after early pressure from the Mexicans. They started off REALLY well and pinned the Argentinians back into their own half for the first 5 minutes and never allowed them too much time on the ball. A perfect free-kick was floated in from the right and it went over everyone's head, but Marques was the obvious target at the back post as he loosed his marker, Heinze and smash the ball past helpless Roberto Abbondanzieri.

But as the red hot favourites for this World Cup, it wasn't long before they themselves found a way past the Mexican defence, this time round its another set piece. Riquelme whipped in the corner and the ball was flicked on by the head of Jared Borghetti and then off the shin of Crespo into the net with Oswaldo Sanchez stranded. It was at first thought to be Borghetti's own goal, but later replay shows the ball did touch the shin of Crespo, as he desperately tried to claim the goal for himself.

The match then became a cagey affair when both teams sought to tighten up abit and not let the opponents score the second. The Argentinians passed the ball well in the middle of the park, but the ball often fails to find the target after it reaches the final third of the field while the Mexicans showed that they're no pushovers. I was very impressed with them after watching them play as they're not technically inferior to the Argetinians and some of they players are quite a handful I must comment. Rafael Marques was imperious throughout the match and as I've mentioned just now, that he's looks as if he's omni-potent, everywhere. He starts as a defender, then suddenly he'll appear in the opposition penalty area or anywhere on the field. Someone that Rio Ferdinand tries very hard to be, a ball playing centre-half.


Gabriel Heinze of ManYoo was lucky to escape with only a yellow card to be honest. Abbondanzieri passed the ball to him and his lack of concentration nearly costed him a red and Argentina. His poor touch enabled Fonseca to steal the ball and Heinze had no other options but to trip him. To me, it should have been a red card, as he was clearly the last man and Ayala was quite some distance away. The Mexicans worked really hard throughout the game and closed down every single inch of space and that rendered Riquelme inefficient for much of the game, as everytime he got the ball, more than 2 players will put him under pressure and as we all know, he's not the fastest player and couldn't shrug off his marker easily.

The struggled continued and it was 1-1 at normal time. Even by bringing on Messi, Tevez and Aimar, Argentina still couldn't find a way past the stubborn Mexican defence, well marshalled by Ricardo Osorio and Marquez. But when the breakthrough came, it was from a moment of brilliance. It was once again Maxi Rodriguez, the Athletico Madrid man, whom had a back facing the goal on the right hand side of the penalty area. He turned and volleyed the ball beyond the despairing dive of Oswaldo Sanchez.


From then on, you knew the Argentinians are through already, although there was stll 20 odd minutes to go. There were some scary moments for the Argentinians defence, but they held on and will now meet Germany in the last 8. What a cracking match that'll be. I can't wait!

Quater Finals #1:

30th June
Argentina vs Germany

11pm

WELCOME BACK, MARG!
bwahaha DUMB BLOND!

Tags: World Cup 2006, Football, Soccer, Argentina, Mexico

Germany In To The Last 8

Podolski Double Fires Germany Into The Last 8

Allianz Arena

Germany 2 - 0 Sweden

Scorers:
GER - L. Podolski (4min, 12min);
SWE - H. Larsson (pen MISS 53min);

When everyone thought that the Germans and the Swedes will make it tough for each other in this match, where there is no second chance and a mistake will cause your team a place in the last 8, the Germans finished the tie within the first 20 minutes with under-fire striker, Lukas Podolski finishing the Swedish off clinically and from then on, it seemed there was no way back for the Swedes.

Both the goals are down to defensive errors from the Swedish defence, as they were dragged all over the place by the in-form Miroslav Klose. He found a way past Erik Edman and took a shot, which was well saved by Andreas Isaksson, but the rebound found its way to the lurking Lukas Podolski, who smashed the ball into an empty net.

Another terrible mistake by the Swedish defence means that they're made to pay by the Germans, who're so clinical and always seemed to strike at the right place and right time. Miroslav Klose got the ball just inside the penalty box, dragged 3 defenders along with him, before releasing the perfectly positioned Podolski and the striker slam home from 10 yards out.

Things started to get worst for the Swedish as they are struggling to find a stranglehold in the game and defender, Teddy Lucic was sent off rather harshly but the Brazillian referee, who was spotted with a wild smug on his face as he reaches the red card from his pocket. To me the second foul by Lucic doesn't seemed to warrant a yellow card as he just tugged the shirt of Klose. But the referee doesn't think so and Sweden, chasing the game, are down to 10 men.

Then Germany started their long-shot barrage on the Swedish goal and Isaksson needs to be on his toes to keep out a couple of shots and he should really be the man of the match as he made saves after saves to keep the Germans at bay and the scoreline respectable. Michael Ballack is guilty of doing a 'Frank Lampard' by blasting shots after shots into the stands but he did came close to scoring, if not for Isaksson's heroics.

After the half time break, the Swedish seemed to be more organised and managed to shut out the Germans well for the opening period of the match. They did have a chance to pull one back when Larsson himself was adjudged to be fouled by Borussia Dortmund defender, Christoph Metzelder and it was he himself who stepped up to take the penalty. It's Jens Lehmann vs Henrik Larsson. Arsenal vs Barcelona once again and this time, the Swedish striker struck the ball with too much power and it went over the bar and what a terrible miss from a striker that have been so reliable over the years. His goal record speaks for itself but this time, he succumbed to the pressure and that has to be the turning point of the game.

Towards the end of the game, it became less eventful and the Germans are just passing the ball around and I must comment on their playing style. I for one, have been turned into an admirer of the German way of playing after watching their last few games. They're SO clinical when it comes to finishing the chances and when they had to hold the ball to starve the opponents off the possesion, they could pass the ball around so well that the Swedish looks like schoolkids sometimes.

A deserved victory for the Germans and once again, they showed their class, fluidity in their play and the ability to finish the game off under pressure. I would LOVE to see them play Argentina in the next round and it's gonna be ONE HELL OF A CRACKING MATCH! Game on!


Tags: World Cup 2006, Football, Soccer, Germany, Sweden