THE MATCH NOBODY WATCHES - PREVIEW

3rd / 4th PLACING PLAY-OFF

Stuttgart
GERMANY vs PORTUGAL

GERMANY: There will be some concern to Klinsy, who will be without some key players for this match. Lehmann have conceded his gloves and number 1 jersey back to his old rival, Oliver Kahn for this match as a mark of mutual respect between the two veterans. The back-line will be almost different from the one we've seen for the past month, as Friedrich, Mertesacker and Lahm will not be available. Huth, Hitzlsperger and Marcell Jansen is set to deputise for the trio.

While in midfield, Michael Ballack will miss out while Tim Borowski is doubtful. Sebastian Kehl will be likely to start and Schweinsteiger should get back his right wing position. I don't think they will make any changes to the 2 forwards, as one is chasing for the golden boot and the other his formidable partner. Klose and Podolski expected to lead the line.

Probable Line-up (4-4-2):


PORTUGAL: Portugal will not have as much injury worries as Germany, but the squad's morale is said to be at its all-time low following the defeat at the hands of the Les Bleus. FIFA's snub on Cristiano Ronaldo for the Young Player of the Tournament is rumoured to have angered Cry-naldo himself and coach, Luis Felipe Scolari. They will be without suspended Chelsea centre-back, Ricardo Carvalho and right-back, Miguel. Caneira of Valencia will step in while Paulo Ferreira will replace Miguel.

Probable Line-up (4-5-1):


DROGBALLS' PREDICTION: GERMANY 3 - 1 PORTUGAL. I really hope for this result, as I don't like the Portugese (don't kill me) and I just think that the Germans will go into this game with a psychological edge over the Iberians. They'll have massive support from the Stuttgart crowd and I don't think they will want to fail in front of their own fans again. The defence is a little weak though, the Portugese will surely look to exploit. In the history of the World Cup, the 3rd/4th placing match has always been full of goals so do expect one tonight.

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

LEGO WORLD CUP: THE MOVIE!

Germany vs World 'All-Star' ?

Saw this really interesting 'movie' trailer in the news few weeks back, but didn't post about it because I can't find the video. But now I've found it and would love to share it with you people! It's really cute, so do enjoy.



Saw the making of the movie as well. It takes a lot of effort from the people, as they have to move the Lego for every scene. Nice work there, hope their hard work pays off.

Tags: Lego World Cup

OTHER WORLD CUP STORIES...

Lehmann Lets Kahn Have The Number 1 Jersey :-

Lehmann was handed the number one jersey on the eve of the finals and has been brilliant as the hosts made it the semi-final.

Klinsmann said: "Oliver Kahn will play. We owe him that gesture and no-one in this world would begrudge him that privilege. "I have spoken to Jens and he has no problem with it. He is full of compliments for Oliver."

Lehmann and Kahn have waged a very public war of words as they challenged each other for the place in the team over the last decade. The German manager said: "It is a wonderful story about the two enormous - not enemies - but rivals for the same position.

Drogballs: 3rd/4th place isn't that 'glorious' right. So might as well hand the keeper's glove to your rival and if Germany DOES lose to the Portugeezers, then Lehmann will bear no blame. Nah, just a cynical view from me as usual. It's nice to see them being so friendly after all, next up is Fabien Barthez and Gregory Coupet? No, don't think so!

Raymond Domenech Is An English Fan!:-

France coach Raymond Domenech has been reported to FIFA for a foul-mouthed attack on the Portuguese bench.

The Sun says Portugal claim Domenech waited for them in the tunnel after Les Bleus' 1-0 semi-final win - and started screaming: "I f****d you, I f****d you" while laughing in their faces and pointing at them.

The Portuguese claim this led to a bust-up, which involved their boss Big Phil Scolari, with blows exchanged, pushing, shoving, more swearing and FIFA intervention.

Now they want Domenech banned from the touchline for Sunday's final against Italy.

Portuguese spokesman Afonso de Melo said: "His behaviour was rude and insulting."

Drogballs: Portugese deserves it, but so does Domenech. From the beginning I've already named him the nutter for being absolutely weird and some bizarre squad selections. Bet he's fuming that Rooney got sent off, eh?

WORLD CUP XI AND YOUNG PLAYER AWARD GOES TO...

Young Player Of The Tournament - Lukas Podolski (GER)

Cristiano Ronaldo's antics against England and France cost him the award for young player of the World Cup.

The Manchester United winger won the fans' internet vote easily but FIFA's technical study's group chose Germany striker Lukas Podolski as the tournament's young player ahead of the Portugal star.

Ronaldo was criticised for his behaviour surrounding Wayne Rooney's sending off, after which he winked at his bench, and was roundly booed in the semi-final against France - during which he blatantly dived in the penalty box.

Still not convince it's a dive?



I'll give it a 9/10. The 1 points deducted for the air kick near the end of it. SHAME.


World Cup "All-Star" Squad

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Jens Lehmann (Germany), Ricardo (Portugal).

Defenders: Roberto Ayala (Argentina), John Terry (England), Lilian Thuram (France), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Fabio Cannavaro (Italy), Gianluca Zambrotta (Italy), Ricardo Carvalho (Portugal).

Midfielders: Ze Roberto (Brazil), Patrick Vieira (France), Zinedine Zidane (France), Michael Ballack (Germany), Andrea Pirlo (Italy), Gennaro Gattuso (Italy), Luis Figo (Portugal), Maniche (Portugal).

Strikers: Hernan Crespo (Argentina), Thierry Henry (France), Miroslav Klose (Germany), Francesco Totti (Italy), Luca Toni (Italy).


Those names highlighted in red are who I think does not deserve to be in the squad. But who can be blamed, it's the same FIFA that placed USA number THREE on it's ranking. John Terry is in there because he's the better one out of a sh*t bunch while Michael Ballack? Luis Figo misses an open goal and went into the squad and Maniche for scoring Lampard-esque shots.

The strikers are a joke. It just underlined the problem of this current World Cup, that is teams are playing far too defensive and often strikers are not given the chance to shine. Most of them are like Terry, the better one out of a bad bunch. How much better could you choose when teams like England and Portugal consistantly plays on striker up front and let them go on a kamikaze mission?

Tags: World Cup 2006, Football, Soccer, Gillette's Best Young Player, Lukas Podolski, World Cup XI

PLEASE DON'T KICK THE STRAY BALLS !

'Police in Berlin said on Wednesday they had arrested two men on suspicion of placing cement-filled footballs around the city and inviting people to kick them.

'At least two people injured themselves by kicking the balls, which were chained to lampposts and trees alongside the spray-painted message: "Can you kick it?"

'Police said they had identified a 26-year-old and a 29-year-old and had found a workshop in their apartment where they made the balls.

'The two are accused of causing serious physical injury, dangerous obstruction of traffic and causing injury through negligence, police said.'

And you thought the Germans didn't have a sense of humour.

THE WORLD CUP '06 TOY STORE

So, our usually nice, controversial-less and sarcasm-less newspaper suddenly becomes so critical of him too. Joining in the fun maybe? But funny nevertheless. Even my dad had a little banter with me about him today. He obviously has become a major talking point and a common topic to most people now. What a wonderful player, let's hope he doesn't cry again during the 3rd/4th place play-offs. Or the newspaper, tabloids and my blog will have a field day yet again.


WELCOME TO THE WORLD CUP TOY STORE!

HOTTEST ITEM: Crying Cronaldo Doll

Other Stocks Includes:

• Cristiano Ronaldo Punching Bag - CURRENTLY SOLD OUT IN ENGLAND. Found in many people's home including a certain person named Wayne. Do not 'play' with it for too long, because psychologist claimed that too much of punching will cause mental disorder.

• David Beckham's Pregnancy Test Kit - After vomitting during the game against Ecuador, many people suspects he's pregnant. Why not use this?

• Ronaldo's Weighing Scale - No matter what you put on it, Ronaldo or Cronaldo, it still shows the same weight and not fat at all. IGNORANCE IS BLISS!

• Frank Lampard's Dart Board - No matter how pro you are, no matter how hard you try, the dart just wouldn't hit the bulls eye. No idea why though. You would need to ask Fat Frank himself.

• Wayne Rooney's Anti-Temper Incense Stick - One sniff of this and all your anger would be gone. Rumour has it that Rooney's daily consumption of this stick is around 247.

• Togo Cash Register - Money come, money come, MONEY COME!

• Raymond Domenech's Eyebrow Trimmer - Should be useful, selling fast!
  

THE KAISER WANTS TO CRACKDOWN ON DIVING

Franz Beckenbauer has called for a footballing summit to crack down on diving and cheating.

The former World Cup-winning captain and coach, and head of Germany's 2006 organising committee, said players are now taking advantage of referees' apparent willingness to award cautions for relatively minor offences.
Beckenbauer - wants summit to solve problems.

Beckenbauer, known as the 'Kaiser', said: "The players are looking for an advantage and they attempt to exploit the situation.

"At the beginning of the tournament, I felt the referees were showing yellow cards too early for trivial offences but the players make it much harder by simulating, and by staying lying on the ground to interrupt play.

"Perhaps everyone - players, referees and administrators can get around a table after this to come up with a solution to put an end to this kind of unfortunate incidents.

"Perhaps there could be a compromise where referees are more generous."

Beckenbauer also wants the rules changed so that any player who tries to get another player booked or sent off by waving an imaginary card at a match official is himself cautioned.

"This is unsporting and unfair," said Beckenbauer.

"I think that whoever asks a referee to give a yellow or red card to another player should get the card himself."


Drogballs: Someone that I have full respect of and to me, he should be the president of FIFA rather than that Sepptic Blatter. He speaks sense and you expect that from someone that have won the World Cup as a player and as a manager. He's a leader on the pitch during his playing days, where his nickname 'The Kaiser' derived from and he's a superb organiser off the pitch. Germany 2006 is a showcase of his organisation skills and leadership qualities. I think he attended all the matches in the World Cup and that shows a lot from someone, who truely loves football. Great man, I'll ask the fat boy not to laugh at you though. HAHA

Tags: Franz Beckenbauer

PORTUGAL'S SECRET TRAINING GROUND UNCOVERED!

Now we have two major threats to the security of human being on earth! One is North Korea making some weapons (I think they use mentos + diet coke) while Portugal are currently training soldiers that are more than meets the eye! They're gonna take over the world with those soldiers!

Two days ago, an American satellite was doing its usual round of 'voyeur' ing around watching people...nevermind. And to their shock and horror they found something...evil...and it's classified top secret. Drogballs will be the first to bring you the photo taken and it's thanks to my neighbour's girlfriend's uncle's dog's doctor's hairdresser as he's the one that got the photo. Here it is....










Haha, alright I'm still joking about it. Should stop soon. :D The next Olympic, there's hope for Portugal in the pools for synchronised diving! NOTE: I'm not the one that does the Photoshop pictures. I got them somewhere else.

Tags: Portugal, Diving

JUST WHAT IF CRYNALDO DOESN'T APOLOGISE TO ROONSTER?

It'll be terribly catastrophic, worst than any human mind could've imagine. Better apologise..now...

No actually, just kidding. :D

Tags: Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo

FIFA GOLDEN BALL (NOT BECKHAM) AWARDS NOMINATIONS

The nominations are:

Fabio Cannavaro (Italy) - Captain of Italy, he have been consistantly brilliant in this competition. One of the reasons why Italy only conceded one goal so far might be down this little man over here. Not the tallest of defenders, but I don't think any strikers would like to face him, even if you're Petey Crouchinho.

Maniche (Portugal) - Erm, other than shooting from afar like Lampard (except he scored twice), I don't have any idea why they picked him. Perhaps at getting yellow cards?

Michael Ballack (Germany) - Oh now we know. They picked the list based on your reputation. What have Ballack done to warrant a place here anyway. I could name a few others who deserved it more than him. But since he's the captain of a over-achieving Germany, then might as well put his name here.

Andrea Pirlo (Italy) - Excellent player with great technique. I have always thought he's a player who doesn't have any body strength and goes down too easily. But this time round he showed me that he doesn't need to be as strong as Gattuso to be able to play well. A graceful player which resembles Xabi Alonso to me. His passing and set piece aren't too shabby either.

Gianluca Zambrotta (Italy) - Scored a wicked left footed drive and have been consistantly performing for the Azzurris. His bombing run up and down the right flank is essential for the Italian side, who lacked a little width in attack. Solid defensively as well.

Thierry Henry (France) - Another player on the list for being a big name player. Scored 3 goals so far against mighty Togo, South Korea and also world champions, Brazil. Yesterday he made a meal out of the contact from Ricardo Carvalho and the penalty turns out to be the winning penalty. Where's your sportsmanship, Monsieur Henry?

Gianluigi Buffon (Italy) - The world's most expensive goalkeeper and you could see why. Part of the impregnable Italian defence, he made a couple of crucial saves and commanded his defence well. Big size and imposing, he is the keeper that no strikers would like to face, one on one.

Patrick Vieira (France) - Had a quiet first two games, where he was found missing on several instances. But when Zidane was suspended against Togo, he wore the captain's armband and put in one of the performance of the tournament from a single player. He was the architech for Henry's goal and had his name on the score sheet as well. Gets better every game, should be interesting fight with Rino Gattuso in the World Cup Finals.

Miroslav Klose (Germany) - Current top scorer of the World Cup 2006, his goal poaching ability is undoubtedly one of the best in the tournament and absolutely clinical at times. His partnership with Lukas Podolski blossomed and they formed the partnership many teams admired. Scored the 80min equaliser against Argentina and a couple of goals in the opening match. Should be able to win the golden boot without much problem.

Zinedine Zidane (France) - The master of how to play football gracefully. Do I need to say more about Zizou? Although he was pretty poor against Switzerland and South Korea, he came back strongly and showed the Samba Brazillians how football should be played with effectiveness and little hassle. A composed penalty taking skill from him also ensured the French a place in finals for only their second time in history.


Who's your pick of the bunch? Who shouldn't be on that list? Mail me your views or comment on it by whatever means. Oh, remember to meditate and sleep early before the 3rd/4th placing match starts this Saturday. Time to get some rest!

Tags: World Cup 2006, Football, Soccer, Golden Ball Award, Zidane, Klose, Vieira, Buffon, Henry, Zambrotta, Pirlo, Ballack, Maniche, Cannvaro