Brazil Are Not Unbeatable, Dammit!

Waldstadion

BRAZIL 0 - 1 FRANCE

Scorer:
FRA - Henry (57min);

What a tame and meek exit from the current world champions, Brazil. In the World Cup '98 Finals rematch, Brazil were being found out and Zidane turned on his masterclass to guide France through to the semi finals. Thirry Henry refuted all claims (including from ME) that he's a big game bottler by scoing the one and only goal in the game, and it was an important one indeed. In a match where Brazillians found it hard to crack down the French defence well marshalled by the 'Uncles', Thuram and Gallas, the French pick Brazil off at will from counter-attacks, where they struggled to defend against even when they're against Ghana and Japan.

This is like a deja vu for fans and players alike I guess. It's possibly one of the most one-sided match in this World Cup and it's shocking to see the one of the wrong side are the samba boys. But to be honest with you, I've been totally unimpressed by them thus far, so it's fair that the French beat them fair and square, without controversies of Ronaldo being possesed by 'pontianak' or whatsoever. But yet again the big man was again annonymous like he did in 1998 Finals and this might be the end of his World Cup career.

But give credits to the French team, or the Les Blues. They reminds me of a marathon runner that starts slow (drew with Switz and Korea), starts to pick up (win over Togo and Spain) and finishing the race strongly with all the strength and energy reserved for the last dash. They made almost everyone ate their words, as we're all so critical of them during the first stage of the competition, where they stumbled and tripped their way to the second round with some luck. But they say hard work is 70& of the winning 'recipe', and the other 30% is luck.

Since their disappointing draw against the Swiss and Koreans, the old men of the team really shone, and they stood up and be counted this time round. Zidane, Vieira and Makalele were poor in the first 2 games, but their performance since then was commendable. Vieira and Makalele snuffed out the tripple threat of Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Kaka, while Thuram and Gallas behind them would clean up the mess. Zidane once again showed why he's the best player in this very era by making the field his own, dancing around with grace and with the ball at his feet. Look how he jink and spinning past 3 Brazillian players is just pure joy to watch. Who needs the Samba Boys when there is already a master of football in France, borned in Algeria.

A Tribute To Zinedine Zidane

Ronaldinho? He could've been more consistent with his brilliance, but until he actually starts doing that, I'm always gonna say Zinedine Zidane is the best footballer in the planet right now, in terms of skills, gracefulness on the ball and of course his personality. He's likeable, lovable and a living role model to everyone. His life's like a testimonial to everyone on the planet that if you dared to dream, it will happen if you're willing to. His down to earth personality draws people's admiration to him in a different way from those of Beckham and CRonaldo. His contribution and impact to football in this very era will leave a legacy behind and lets hope this World Cup will be a good one for him, as this will be his final swan song before he retires and we might never see Zinedine Zidane grace our football grounds again. Thank you Zizou for the magic. You're the MAN.




And Allez Les Bleus for the good showing. Good luck!

Semi Finals #2:

July 5th, 3am
Munich

PORTUGAL vs FRANCE

Tags: World Cup 2006, Football, Soccer, Les Blues, Zinedine Zidane, France, Brazil

England Screwed Up The Penalties ONCE AGAIN

Gelsinkirchen

ENGLAND 0 - 0 PORTUGAL

Penalty Shoot-out

ENGLAND 1 - 3 PORTUGAL

Scorers:
ENG - Lampard (SAVED), Hargreaves (SCORES), Gerrard (SAVED), Carragher (SAVED);

POR - Simao (SCORES), Viana (MISSED), Petit (MISSED), Postiga (SCORES), Ronaldo (SCORES);

I'll post the comments tomorrow. I'm not really in the mood to write the post actually...so, so disappointing....

Quater Finals Day 2 Previews

Gelsinkirchen

ENGLAND vs PORTUGAL

Our excitement have been cut short when the news that Frank Lampard will be fit for the game against Portugal. He will as usual, continue to donate the "TeamGeist", or the football to the fans behind the England goal. But they recieve a defensive boost when Gary Neville is being passed fit and will regain his right-back post from Owen Hargreaves.

But Portugal will be without their influencial midfielders, Deco and Costinha due to their suspension, after receiving red cards on their previous game against Holland. CRonaldo is also a major doubt for this game. Tough times for Portugal.

England (4-5-1): 1-Paul Robinson ; 2-Gary Neville, 5-Rio Ferdinand, 6-John Terry, 3-Ashley Cole; 7-David Beckham, 8-Frank Lampard, 16-Owen Hargreaves, 4-Steven Gerrard, 11-Joe Cole; 9-Wayne Rooney
Coach: Sven-Goran Eriksson

Portugal (4-5-1): 1-Ricardo; 13-Miguel, 16-Ricardo Carvalho, 5-Fernando Meira, 14-Nuno Valente; 8-Armando Petit, Maniche, 11-Simao Sabrosa, 7-Luis Figo, 17-Cristiano Ronaldo; 9-Pauleta.
Coach: Luiz Felipe Scolari

Drogballs' Prediction: England 1-0 Portugal. Portugal will sorely miss their midfield general, Costinha and their inspirational Deco. Also, England will be fired up for this game, as they have been kicked out of the last 2 major competitions by none other than Portugal's coach, Scolari.

Waldstadion

BRAZIL vs France

Ah, it's the 1998 World Cup Finals yet again. Deja vu for the Brazillians, as they were utterly humiliated by the French back then, losing 3-0 with Zinedine Zidane and Emmanuel Petit scoring. 8 years on, there is still remnants of the previous team here in this game. Roberto Carlos, Zidane, Cafu, Henry and just to name a few. Brazil will want to bury the nightmare of that game tonight by beating the French and gaining a place in the semi finals facing either England or Portugal. There are no injury problems from both the squad so they'll likely start with their normal first XI.

Brazil (4-4-2): 1-Dida; 2-Cafu, 3-Lucio, 4-Juan, 6-Roberto Carlos; 17-Gilberto Silva, 11-Ze Roberto, 8-Kaka, 10-Ronaldinho; 9-Ronaldo, 7-Adriano
Coach: Carlos Alberto Parreira

France (4-2-3-1): 16-Fabien Barthez; 19-Willy Sagnol, 15-Lilian Thuram, 5-William Gallas, 3-Eric Abidal; 4-Patrick Vieira , 6-Claude Makelele; 22-Franck Ribery, 10-Zinedine Zidane, 7-Florent Malouda; 12-Thierry Henry
Coach: Raymond Domenech

Drogballs' Prediction: Brazil 2-1 France. I personally have this gut feeling that Ronaldo will play a blinder due to the fact that he missed the '98 World Cup Finals with an unknown illness and he'll be out there to prove his worth. And of course Brazil will want to up their game and get their revenge, especially Ronaldinho, who has been largely disappointing.

Tags: World Cup 2006, Soccer, Football, Brazil, France, England, Portugal

Post 200: Last Words On Germany vs Argentina

Berlin

Germany 1 - 1 Argentina
(Germany win 4 - 2 on penalties)

Football's a cruel thing isn't it. One mistake. One wrong move and your dreams will come crashing down. And especially your sadness and joy is being decided by penalties, as if it's hanging on by a thread. It's only just THIS close to be at the top of the world, but there bound to be a loser when there is a winner, and the winner last night was German spirit, while the loser was the Argentina, not only losing it on penalties, but losing their sportsmanship as well. The handbags at the end of the game was a shame and shouldn't have happened. But we're not sure what made Gabriel Heinze so incensed that he was like a raging mad man with an intention of killing Olivier Bierhoff. Whatever's the case, Germany is through to the semi-finals and to me, they looked on course for the finals yet again.

First Half:

As expected, the match was pretty cagey and both sides struggled to find the opening as their defence held firm. Usually matches like this are meant to be quite slow paced and maybe I should quote 'boring'. Both teams would not want to concede the first goal therefore always starts very cautiously with at least 7 players behind the ball and theother 3 upfront trying to find gaps in the opposition defence where they can exploit. It was just like that in the first half anyway. Both teams had men behind the ball and therefore isolated their forwards uptop and to be honest, both Argentina and Germany's forward got lost and were annonymous during the first half. Oh, actually in the first half, both teams looked like they were just playing out the time and were extremely patient. But it was hotly contested and tackles were flying in, man marking was evident and zone pressing were effective for the defence, nuiance to the offence.

Second Half:

No point being defensive throughout the whole game though. The objective's to score a goal isn't it? Argentina seemed to have a little rythmn with them as Carlos Tevez impressed yet again with his movement on the field and also his contributions. He's the Argentina's Wayne Rooney and this comparison doesn't flatter both the players, as it seemed like they're the mould of each other. Stocky and strong, but packed with pace and power. But Rooney is a more direct type of player whom run into your face while Tevez seemed to be a little more nimble and his ability to find a way past the defence without getting his face smacked.

But the goal came from the unlikey source. Roberto Ayala of Valencia, was picked out by Juan Riquelme's corner and he was at hand to head home past a helpless Lehmann. It was apparent that the goal was a mistake from Per Mertesacker, who was supposed to mark Ayala but lost him and Klose was never going to cover the ground in that amount of time. The goal changed the tempo of the game and also the mentality and psychological state of the players. Argentina looked confident after that and nearly got the second after some good work from Riquelme. Germany on the other hand, still looked really toothless and never at all worked Abbondanzieri, who as a virtual spectator. But his participation came to an end when Klose's knees crashed against his ribs during one of the penalty box melee. Leo Franco was brought on to replace him.

Argentina's Tactical Mistake:

Actually, it was not a tactical mistake, more of a carelessness in the substitutions. So the goalkeeper's injury forced Pekerman to make a change. So he's left with 2 substitutions and the mistake was to take Riquelme out. He wasn't at his best, but he is clearly the pivot of the team and the funnel of Argentina's attacking prowess. When Argentina was leading 1-0, they changed Riquelme out for a more defensive Esteban Cambiasso and sent a signal to the German camp that they're ready to hold on to their lead. Little did Argentina expected that Germany soon equalised and Argentina is left with 2 strikers and a whole lot of defenive midfielder and no creativity and an extra man to help out Cruz and Tevez. They left themselves with no backdoor then, and paid for it.

So the score remained 1-1 till extra time. Up till then players from both sides are clearly fatigued especially Michael Ballack, who looked knackered. Without any way of seperating this two sides, penalty shoot out was inevitable. Both sides goes into the shoot out with excellent records, who 0 loses on penalty shoot out in the World Cup. But surely Germaný's home support is the key, and of course Kahn's encouragement to Jens Lehmann! This pic below is PRICELESS.

The only way of seperating this 2 great footballing sides was the cruel way of taking the penalties. It looks easy, but you've got to understand how much pressure this players are under and of course standing right infront of you is Mad Jens Lehmann! He was the hero as he made 2 crucial saves to deny Ayala and Cambiasso. The Germans were estatic with Beckenbauer and their ministers looking on, they live to fight another day and next it is going to be Italy.

And this is disgraceful. Let's wait and hear for more of what actually happened. But it just speaks of the tension during the penalty shoot out, the emotion running high and sometimes these footballers just lose control of their temper and senses. So Argentina crash out of the competition quite disappointingly, as they are one of the teams that performed really well throughout the course of the competition. But so did Germany.

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

Italy To Meet Germany In Semi Finals

Cruel Way Decides Winner - Lehmann Saves The Day

Berlin

GERMANY 1 - 1 ARGENTINA

Scorers:
GER - M. Klose (80min);
ARG - R. Ayala (49min);

Penalty Shoot-out:

GERMANY 4 - 2 ARGENTINA

GER - Neuville (SCORE), Ballack (SCORE), Podolski (SCORE), Borowski (SCORE);

ARG - Cruz (SCORE), Ayala (SAVED), Rodriguez (SCORE), Cambiasso (SAVED);

Toni Double Sinks Ukraine

Hamburg

ITALY 3 - 0 UKRAINE

Scorers:
ITA - G. Zambrotta (6min), L. Toni (59min, 69min);

Semi Finals #1:

July 4th, 3am
Dortmund

GERMANY vs ITALY

Tags: World Cup 2006, Football, Soccer, Italy, Ukraine, Germany, Argentina

Huzzah! It's The Quater Finals!

So...It Begins...

So, after 2 days of rest and meditational period, the World Cup kicks off once again and it's already the quater finals before you know. Already 50 odd games have been played and we're just 6 games away from the finals and only 1 of the 8 teams are going home happy with the prestigious World Cup and the crowning of the world champions. Tonight we'll see 2 sides going home and 2 sides one step closer to crown. I'm very excited by that prospect and I can feel that Germany vs Argentina is gonna end up with extra time...

Berlin

Germany vs Argentina

Klinsmann is likely to keep the side that was victorious against Sweden. Actually...he didn't change much during the course of this World Cup and this could prove to be an advantage for the Argentinians. Michael Ballack on the other hand states that the chances of winning the World Cup is 60-40. So inspirational from the captain, eh? It really doesn't make sense of course, we know every team up till now has a 100% chance of winning the World Cup isn't it? Argentina won't make much changes as well so we're in for a cracking match.

Drogballs' Prediction: Germany 1-1 Argentina (Germany to win after extra-time). It's so difficult to call that I have to sit on the fence and predict a draw. But there is no such thing as draw in the quater finals, so I have to pick a winner and I pick...Germany, for they hold the advantage of having the home support and their form at the moment is excellent.

Hamburg

Italy vs Ukraine

Italian centre-back, Alessandro Nesta is set to miss out of this match after failing the late fitness test. His replacement, Marco Materazzi will also sit out of this game after he was sent off against the Socceroos. The one that is set to stand in is Andrea Barzagli. He might be the weak link in the defence and Ukraine will look to exploit his inexperience. Ukraine will start this game as the underdogs.

Drogballs' Prediction: Italy 2-1 Ukraine. Ukraine might score a goal due to the absence of Nesta and Materazzi. But Italy will still prove to be too strong for the Ukrainians.

Tags: World Cup 2006, Football, Soccer, Italy, Ukraine, Germany, Argentina

WC '06 Performers So Far....Videos On Diving....And....

I Was Spot On, Then...

As usual, I was checking out the Football365 website and I realised they did an article on who's flopped at the World Cup so far and guess what, the names in the list was almost identical to the ones I have mentioned 2 days ago in my post about players that have flopped and disappointed so far. My list consisted of Ronaldinho, Lumpard, Henry, Ballack Toni, Ibrahimovic and Sven + Walcott (jokingly) while the F365 list consists of Ronaldinho, Lumpard, Henry, Toni, Ibrahimovic and van Nistelrooy (I placed him under surprisingly bad). So I might not get the scores right, I least I got the players right!

Football's Not About Just Kicking The Ball...

Joe Cole, Didier Drogba, Arjen Robben, Jose Antonio Reyes, Robert Pires and Cristiano Ronaldo. Oh and just to name a few. What has this guys have in common? Uhm yea, you should know it if you've been following football. The are players who have a special technique when playing football and are graceful actors on the field. The fall like flies when being touched and looks as though they got shot in the head when somebody had contact with them anywhere above the legs. Most of them made their names through their theatrics on the field and you have to wonder what has football becoming to.

To me, cheating and diving seemed to be seeping into the sub-culture of football and it's a real sad thing. They used it to get an advantage over the opponents and to trick the referee into believing something else. We might love the beautiful game but it's an inevitable thing that teams will use underhand methods to gain the advantage and bringing the beautiful game into utter disrepute. I was disappointed by the authority and referees so far, for NOT stamping out on cheating and outright diving. They booked players for time-wasting, minor challenges, but why is it that diving seemed to be a special rule where it seemed untouchable? Maybe it's really time to introduce the video technology. I'm not happy with the present way of doing things anyway.

Wondered why the players can dive so 'realistically' and could get away with it? Watch this video:




Indeed, they practice diving during trainings. What a shame....


The Performers Thus Far :

I've covered the flops and surprises for the World Cup already, so it's time for the performers. Every World Cup, there's always a shining light among the players, an inspiration among the team and the star of the show. WC '98 was Davor Suker and Zidane. WC '02 was Ronaldinho, Klose and Ahn Jung-hwan. Well, this time round?

• Xabi Alonso (SPA) - Liverpool's very own playmaker, his passing and overall composure has been great and also getting Spain's first goal in the competition with his head. Has been an integral part in the current Spain set up and Aragones said he's one of the players that will be the first on his list. I'm a keen admirer of this graceful player who seemed to have a radar on him whenever he plays because he knew exactly where everyone is.

• Luis Figo (POR) - He's 34 and before the tournament started, everyone said he's past his sell-out date. But this time, he showed everyone that he might be 34, but he still can perform up to his best. I don't really rate Figo very much, but seriously I thought he have been playing really well and deserved a spot over here.

• Rafael Marquez (MEX) - What on earth is his position anyway. He used to play as a defensive midfielder for Barca, then a centre-back this season. He seemed to have the license to attack when he's wearing the green Mexican jersey and the ability to lead an attack from behind. His performances have been immense, bar the match against Portugal where the whole team went misisng anyway. There is a lack of graceful sweeper like Beckenbauer in modern day football, but here he is. He's the person that Rio wanted to immitate but failed.

• Didier Zokora (CIV) - Apparently signed for Spurs after Ivory Coast's early exit, he have been impressive in the 3 games against the 3 deadly teams from Europe. Although small in stature, he's never afraid to stuck a foot in and get involved. Great tackler and good passer of the ball, Spurs, you got a great deal from him. Lucky you.
  

• Andrea Pirlo (ITA) - Famous for going for disappearing acts in his AC Milan shirt, but have been ever-present for the Italians since Day 1. Scored a beauty against Ghana in the opening game and was the source of inspiration when Totti and Del Piero failed to shine. Might be a little weak and his sh*tty dribbling skill, but he's one of the best passers of the ball.

• Fabio Cannavaro (ITA) - Once told he's too short to be a defender, and how did those words came to haunt whoever that idiot is. Yes he might be as tall as me, but he is no doubt one of the best defender in recent times. His reading of the game, tackling and his discipline is the key reason why Italians are so strong at the back. He's a captain for a reason, you know.

• Richard Kingston (GHA) - Who? Erm, the goalkeeper of Ghana. There should be European teams interested in this guy from now on I think. Although flaps at corners like most African keepers do, his shot stopping skills are quite good. If not for him, maybe Italy could've scored more than 2 and impressed me in the match against the Czechs.

• Mikael Essian & Stephen Appiah (GHA) - The midfield lynchpin(s) of the Ghana side. They were the ultimate source of inspiration for the Ghanians and should be proud of themselves for bringing them thus far. They seemed to cover every blade of grass when they play, excellent running off the ball and their energy never seemed to run out. Essien showed what he could do IF only Chelsea and Jose did not suppress his attacking prowess due to his role in Chelsea.

• Miroslav Klose (GER) - Once again the man who haunted those in WC '02 is back. I actually thought he's pretty average and jut another targetman who got lucky in the previous WC, but once again he showed his goalscoring touch and is currently the top-scorer of Germany '06. Linked up with Podolski seamlessly too.

• Philipp Lahm (GER) - Scored a brilliant goal in the opening match and have been performing at his best in almost all the games. Statistics doesn't lie when they say he had they highest success rate in tackling. He loves to go forward in support and isn't too bad defending as well.

• Willy Sagnol & Eric Abidal (FRA) - The wingbacks of the French team, they performed well in the games they played in and I was very impressed by Willy Sagnol in the game against Togo. Playing side by side with an ageing but experienced defenders helped them too.

• Ze Roberto (BRA) - Usually in the Brazil team, the attacking players are the one that shines, like Ronaldo and Ronaldinho. But the hardworking Ze Roberto is my pick this time round. He runs around to cover the ground left behind by the attacking players and allows Roberto Carlos to go on his bombing run. His passing and tackling stats are almost perfect and scored a goal against Ghana too.

• Roberto Ayala (ARG) - Rock solid defender from Valencia, he's the very reason why Argentinian attackers could attack without having the burden to worry about the defence for too much. Like Cannavaro, is getting on with his age, but his experience is invaluable and like a wine, it gets better as it gets older.

• Maxi Rodriguez, Juan Pablo Sorin & Juan Roman Riquelme (ARG) - The 3 inspirational players of the Argentinian side, they work really hard every game and have impressed me. Rodriguez coming into the World Cup as a relative unknown but scored 3 goals including that cracker against Mexico. Sorin the captain runs up and down the left wing and is hard as nails. Riquelme, the brain of the team, the playmaker. Although he has a chronic lack of pace, his brains rule over brawns and he's one of the best passers of the ball.

That's all, it's a long list, but it just shows that this World Cup is entertaining with star players shining and also seeing the unknown quantities rised to become stars of the future. I might have missed out on some so do drop a comment or an email. Thanks.

Tags: World Cup 2006, Germany, Football, Soccer, Diving, Cheating, Videos

The Surprises Of Germany 2006 World Cup And Latest Transfer Gossip....

Aurelio Deal Imminent?

FABIO AURELIO will officially become a Liverpool player this weekend. Aurelio will sign his four-year Anfield contract on July 1, having already agreed terms with the Reds. The 27-year-old Brazilian left back, who is signing on a free Bosman deal from Valencia, will start pre-season training with the rest of Liverpool's non-World Cup internationals next week.

Benitez will welcome at least three new faces to Melwood when the players return, with Aurelio joining fellow South American Gabriel Paletta and new striker Craig Bellamy. Unfortunately, Mark Gonzalez will still need to await clearance from the department for education and employment, although that decision is anticipated a week today.

Ideally, Benitez wants at least a fifth new face to join the club by then - followed by another two before the transfer deadline.

Drogballs: Hopefully, the report is true. He rejected Barca and Real Madrid for Liverpool, so he must be really desperate to play for the Reds I guess. The Brazillian left back a little injury proned, but has an excellent record of scoring as a defender and is a free-kick specialist, adding to the list of players like Gerrard, Alonso and his new competitor, Riise. And if Mark Gonzalez's permit is approved (PLEASE!), then we'll have lots of cover for the left winger position with Kewell and Zenden the left wingers while Riise and Aurelio the wing-backs. He'll give us more 'POSSIBILITIES' as said by Rafa. But, after watching Dirk Kuyt played against Portugal, I have my doubts. Let's hope it all turns out well.


Surprises, Anyone?

The World Cup is always filled with joy, disappointments and of course, surprises. So after yesterday's post on Flops, today I'll name some of the major surprises in this World Cup, be it teams or players.

• Lucas Neil (AUS) - The rugged right-back of Blackburn Rovers, he has impressed me in this WC with his performance. He's ordinary when playing in the Premiership, but looks class in the middle of the defence for his nation. Surprisingly good!

• Czech Republic - They performed extremely well in Euro 2004 and is said to have their best squad in recent times. Was touted to be one of the 'black horses' of the competition but after losing to the Ghanians, they did not pick themselves up and lost to Italy on the last and crucial match. But I sympathise them for losing both their Milan Baros and Jan Koller.
  

• Owen Hargreaves (ENG) - The media slates him and I do criticise him sometimes, but he really surprised everyone this time round. He played the holding midfielder role in the game against Sweden and was one of the better player while still competent enough to play in the right-back role in the game against Ecuador. Shares the title of Carraher for Mr. Versatile.

• Ghana - When they're grouped together with Italy, Czech Republic and the USA, everyone wrote them off and thinks that their exit in the first round is inevitable. But they defied the critics and went out only to world champion, Brazil in the second round. Still, they managed to put up an excellent show and beat USA and Czech Republic in the first round, while the lost against Italy looks more like a lesson for them rather than a defeat.

• Ruud van Nistelrooy & Wesley Sneijder (HOL) - I wanted to place this two names under the 'flop' section, but I really didn't expect them to do so badly, so it's more of a surpise. Ruud's season went pear-shaped near the end of the season as he was being taken over by Saha in the ManYoo starting XI. Poor form and attitude was to be blame and he managed only 1 goal in the 2 games he played. Still, overall performance is disappointing. Sneijder, alot are expected from this young midfielder, but surprisingly did real badly. Can't shoot or pass I presume.

• Arthur Boka & Yaya Toure (CIV) - One is an unknown quantity while another is the elder brother of Kolo Toure. They played well considering they were not big names and were relatively unknown, especiall Arthur Boka, who was named the Roberto Carlos of Africa.
  

• Poland - Surprisingly finished 3rd in the group after being defeated by Ecuador on opening day and succumbed to a last minute winner by the Germans. Everyone expected them to go through to the second round along with Germany, but failed spectacularly.

• Serbia & Montenegro - They conceded 1 goal in 10 matches during the World Cup qualifers. But after getting their butt smacked by Argentina and Ivory Coast, they are now officially the team that concedes the most number of goals, that is 10 in total.
  

• Switzerland - A team that doesn't have any history when it comes to World Cup, they did really well especially defensively when they conceded a grand total of ZERO goals in the 4 games they played. Shame they lost to Ukraine in the penalty shoot-out and missed all 3 of them. Defence doesn't win you games for sure.

• Angola - Everyone thought they're gonna be te whipping boys and cannon fodder of the World Cup. But they managed to put up good performances and deserved a litte credit here.

• Saudi Arabia - Surprisingly good. Oh, wait.....

Agree? Disagree? Please drop a comment or email. Constructive criticisms accepted of course!

Tags: World Cup 2006, Football, Soccer, World Cup Surprises

You Could Be Superman, Too.....

Superman Returns...

Aight, so caught the new 'Superman Returns' movie with wk, rivand and a bunch of people whom, I'm not so familiar with over at the brand new Grand Cathay. Don't really anticipate this movie as much as others in the past but I must say that this movie will be one of my all time favourite movies. It was superb in all sense, visuals, sound effects, storyline and also touched me a little. You might read this just like a normal rubbish review from Drogballs, but may this be a little inspiration to people out there, as normal and nerdy as Clark Kent.

I hate to go into the story and spoil it fr you guys, but it's just basically a story on how Mr Superman save the world, his 'super-ness' and also his 'non super-ness'. His strength and weakness lies with love and all this coming from a man who is just, a nerdy reporter who's mild mannered and introverted. Bah, I shall not go on about the story but do catch it as it's brilliant if you have time to spare (its almost 3 hours long) and looking for a little inspiration.


Positives:
+ Excellent CGI, sound effects and the acting isn't too shabby either. Clark Kent surely will melt lady's heart and Lois is stunningly gorgeous. Ah, if they're not then they would not have been in a movie anyway.

+ Character development. The movie wasn't too rushed in the beginning and explained much things clearly, from the opinion of a guy whom have never watch Superman, Smallville or even the comics. You could feel the pain when Superman got owned and got a little kick around from the Russian gangsters.

+ Witty one liners! It's alright to put in some lines that makes people have a laugh at it and it actually made the movie a little more enjoyable and bearable due to the draggy nature of the movie.

+ Story. Might not be the best and might not beat Spiderman movies, but it's good enough I think. It makes you feel that you're IN the movie and I was deeply immersed in the movie before it was too late to realised...I missed the last train home.....This is one of those Superhero movies that actually featured so much action and drama in it. Brilliant.


Negatives:
+ Draggy. It's hard to pick out the negatives of this movie. Oh well maybe I'm not picky enough, or I'm just not good enough to write this reviews, but one thing I must comment about is the length of the movie. The ending was not concise and went dragging and dragging and I felt like I was watching LOTR: Return of the King once again.

I contemplated on placing ' Unrealistic' under the Negatives. But since this is a Superhero movie, not much stuff's gonna be realistic anyway right? How on earth did Lois survived when she was toss around like a doll in that aircraft? Nevermind about that, it''s a fantastic movie and a good one for those comic junkies. If you hae 3 hours to spare, there you go, you WON'T regret this.

To All Of You...

Have you ever wondered why Superman has been portrayed as an introvert, a nerd with 4 eyes (wearing spectacles that is) and always so shy? Well, it's because there are a lot among us are what he's being portrayed in the movies. You feel that you're powerless and you're nothing. Maybe you're a nerd, maybe a timid person like I am, an introvert or even a really shy person that still lacked the courage to do what you think is right.

Why not, be a superman (or woman) to the very someone. He/she might say 'I don't need a superman' like Lois did in the movie, but what he/she says might not mean what he/she thinks. He/she might not appreciate you, might not have noticed you yet or even see you differently, but why not be there for that person always and do whatever you can for that person just so that you could be the difference in that person's life. You might be an insignificant someone in this big world, but you could still make a difference. That is IF you want to take up the challenge or not. It's never gonna be easy you know, but it might just turn out to be alright.

Okay, hope you guys get a little inspiration from this, or maybe you would laugh at me for being stupid. Ah, whatever the cause, this is what the movie's trying to tell you and that the most insignificant things in the world, could still make the ultimate difference.

And the problem with me now is, I can inspire you, but I can't inspire myself to do it. I guess I'll just be what I am, because not everyone could be a superhuman after all. I'm tired. So I shall find my rest now. Good night people. Early school tomorrow. Back to Clark Kent I guess.

Tags: Superman Returns

The Flops And Disappointments So Far In Germany 06

Does Spain Deserve To Lose? Yes

So I was discussing with Sylvia about footie yet again and she claimed the French deserved their victory. Well, on the bus trip home I had a serious thought about it and took off my red-tinted glasses and I would like to say, yes they deserved to lose. Firstly, their coach, Luis Aragones once called Thierry Henry 'a black sh*t'. It's a racist comment and I never had respect for that old man anyway. Secondly, the booing of the French national anthem. It's shameful and this was the first incident in the World Cup that a nation's anthem was being jeered. Very disrespectful from the mindless fans and football might be competitve and rivalry does exists between nations, but it's time to make friends, right?


And now, this is the perfect example of what it is to have an egg on your face. Now, he comes back and haunt you and finished you lot off with the 3rd goal and what do you have to say? Well in Zizou Zidane. He is one player that everyone should look up to and learn from. He was poor, but used his extraordinary talents well. Once he got rich he didn't flaunt them around and remained one of the most low profiled 'stars' around. I hate to see him retire, but he already has left a legacy among us.

All in all, the Spanish got what they deserved. Karma.


Flops & Disappointments So Far

So now we are left with 8 teams competing for the prestigious World Cup. So far I have watched the majority of the matches and have been impressed as well as disappointed by some players during the course of the World Cup. Some came into the competition as man-to-watch but flopped spectacularly and some just flattered to decieve. I shall try to name a few players that I find are major disappointments and flops so far.

• Ronaldinho (BRA) - He is without a doubt the best player on planet fotball when he's on form. But rather surprisingly he's had 4 disappointing games already and looked distinctly average and he's currently over-shadowed by compatriot Kaka and maybe even Juninho. Still haven't found the net yet but managed to notch up an assist last night. Really could have done better.
  

• Frank Lampard (ENG) - The Chelsea midfielder hailed with an impressive 21 goals in the Premiership season of 05/06. But he apparently arrive in Germany not to play in the World Cup, but perhaps having a little competition with new team-mate, Michael Ballack on who's the first to put 20 shots into the stands. Caught practicing shooting secretly with the Ghana squad. (Sarcasm Alert)

• Thierry Henry (FRA) - The famed big game bottler was at it again last night, when he was caught offside a total of 8 times and had 0 shot on goals the entire night. This coming from a supposed world's best striker and scoring bucketloads for Arsenal. But I wasn't surprised, watching him play against Barcelona in the CL Finals. Lacked support, but to be honest he looked like he don't give a toss anyway. Oh, and he did a 'Rivaldo' last night too. Cheating French.

• Michael Ballack (GER) - If you frequently watch him play, you know his performance has been sub-par so far and although his shooting might be a little better than Lampard, but still very disappointing from the German captain. I believed he disrupted the German squad a little when he came back into the squad in the match against Poland. Can be better and SHOULD be better.

• Luca Toni (ITA) - The first striker in Italian Serie A to score a whopping 30 goals in a single season. 30 goals in Italian League is a major achievement that even top class strikers like Shevchenko and Inzaghi couldn't do but this big man came into the tournament as a striker on fire. Now he is the striker under fire after failing to score in his 3 games.

• Zlatan Ibrahimovic (SWE) - As I have stated over and over and over again, this big Swede is the one of the most over-rated footballer ever. Everyone hails him as the best thing to Sweden since Henrik Larsson. How he flopped spectacularly in this tournament as he finished without a goal and now suddenly, everyone noticed that he's not that special after all.

• Theo Walcott & Sven Goran-Eriksson (ENG) - The pairing made in heaven. In case you thought they're gay, you're wrong. Sven brought little boy Walcott to the World Cup to be a back-up of Owen, Crouch and Rooney. Oh maybe not, he apparently have never seen Walcott played and gambled to bring this kid to the WC. Now with Michael Crocked Owen out of the WC, he now has only a Roonster, a lanky RoboCrouch and...DAVID JAMES. Great.

Anyway the following players are who I thought have flopped or disappoint in the tournament. You can have a different view from me so please do drop a comment or an email if you wish to share your views. Thanks alot and enjoy the 2 days of break before the Quater Finals start again this Friday. Have fun! I'm watching Superman tonight so maybe a review tonight? Cheers.

Tags: Spain, France, Les Bleus, World Cup Flops, Ibrahimovic, Theo Walcott, Luca Toni, Michael Ballack, Thierry Henry, Frank Lampard, Ronaldinho