World Cup blog for soccer fans of all levels... Update: France sans Zidane

Yeah they will. If anyone would like to see the game, go here. Starts in 20 mins... I think the lineup they used earlier were sub/fringe players and the one coming up will be starters.

EDIT : Link is Justin dot TV.
 
Theo Walcott left off the England squad. Who woulda thunk it after his hat-trick against Croatia, but he hasn't really done anything for the squad since. Dude literally went from looking like one of England's best hopes at the World Cup to getting left off the plane to South Africa.
 
man as an arsenal fan, im a theo guy. kind of surprising he was totally left off the roster.
 
I didn't think Theo deserved a place in the squad ..but im surprised Capello picked Shaun Wright Philips over him.
 
^ exactly regarding swp

i can't stand peter crouch...but i know they like that short/tall combo up front at times
 
I'm slightly surprised that he left Theo out... woulda been useful to have him on the bench to run past tired defenders late in the game... I guess SWP can do that too...
 
Walcott is a useless headless chicken. The guy had no business being on England's WC squad. He relies way too much on his speed and has not improved much as a player in the last few years.

Cameroon look terrible against Portugal. Portugal should be up by multiple goals but Kameni has made some good saves. Samuel Eto'o was sent off thanks to some BS decision by the ref.

Ghana are in a defensive shell defending with 9 men while the Netherlands look like a well-oiled machine. Ghana once again are showing their inability to create good offensive chances. I wonder what they're going to do against the strong German and Serbian defences.
 
Originally Posted by SinnerP

I'm slightly surprised that he left Theo out... woulda been useful to have him on the bench to run past tired defenders late in the game... I guess SWP can do that too...
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Lennon as well.  I thought Walcott could get left off because yeah he is fast but when he gets in position his crosses have been terrible.  Lennon and SWP are better at the same type of things that Walcott does which is why he got left off.  Walcott is my boy too but he had a bad season.
 
Originally Posted by Carlos Tevez

Walcott is a useless headless chicken. The guy had no business being on England's WC squad. He relies way too much on his speed and has not improved much as a player in the last few years.

Cameroon look terrible against Portugal. Portugal should be up by multiple goals but Kameni has made some good saves. Samuel Eto'o was sent off thanks to some BS decision by the ref.

Ghana are in a defensive shell defending with 9 men while the Netherlands look like a well-oiled machine. Ghana once again are showing their inability to create good offensive chances. I wonder what they're going to do against the strong German and Serbian defences.
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Did Cameroon look terrible due to their own incompetence or because Portugal was playing well?
 
rossi was left out
pimp.gif
 
Netherlands - Ghana
4 - 1

Both teams played their starters for the WC pretty much.
The Netherlands looked pretty sharp, scoring easily against a very defensive team VdVaart definitly showed why he should be a starter. The defensive lap was hysterical though!
Ghana lacks talent imo, not going to make it out of their pool.
 
Costa Rica beat Switzerland 1-0.

From what I saw (1st half) Costa Rica was pressuring alot and well I think a deserved win.
 
Originally Posted by faithlesshox

Netherlands - Ghana
4 - 1

Both teams played their starters for the WC pretty much.
The Netherlands looked pretty sharp, scoring easily against a very defensive team VdVaart definitly showed why he should be a starter. The defensive lap was hysterical though!
Ghana lacks talent imo, not going to make it out of their pool.
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At this point, I'd be surprised if Ghana got anymore than a point in South Africa. 
laugh.gif
at Rossi being excluded after this:

mag_05172010.jpg
 
Both teams played their starters for the WC pretty much

Not true...several key Ghanian starters did not start in this match. Not like it would've mattered much but expect a better showing from the Ghanians in 2-weeks time. Holland looked da.mn good once again but their defence remains shaky. I think we'll see the typical Holland performance in the WC...a few dazzling displays followed by an elimination in the 2nd round.

As for Portugal vs. Cameroon...Cameroon have been extremely poor all year long. It's not just Eto'o, this team lacks quality all over the pitch. Kameni is a liability in net, they cant defend, their midfield (with Alex Song) are very poor and cant create chances and fail to maintain extended possession of the ball. Then you have Eto'o upfront without any service at all. I think Denmark and Holland will easily advance out of that group while Cameroon and Japan will go home early. As for Portugal, they played fairly well and should've finished with more than 3 goals. They created a lot of chances but Kameni made some big saves to bail out Cameroon. I think there's reason to be optimistic if your a Portugal fan. Ofcourse the biggest question mark will be if they can score enough goals to do well in this tournament. I think going up against an Ivorian team coached by Eriksson will be a stern test for Portugal.
 
Benzema should be playing. France has messed up, even if he didn't do well in RM, that is still another player they can use in the next worldcup.
Very, very aggravated at this french team, mediocre at best.
 
I've updated and stickied two major posts: the Team Index/Power Rankings; and the "Structure of the Tournament" post that contains a lot of basic info on how teams qualify, how they can advance, etc. Might be good pre-tournament reads for people new to the World Cup.
 
Originally Posted by NjCollector

Benzema should be playing. France has messed up, even if he didn't do well in RM, that is still another player they can use in the next worldcup.
Very, very aggravated at this french team, mediocre at best.
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France dont need Benzema, what they need is a proper coach. Unfortunately for France fans, they'll have to wait until after the WC for Laurent Blanc...until then they'll watch Raymond Dummynech sabotage their WC chances. This idiot has Govou starting, Malouda as a left-sided central midfielder, Gourcuff dropping back into CM, etc etc. His squad selection is terrible and every match is a struggle for France as a result. Give any decent manager this kind of talent and they'd be legitimate WC contenders. Give this kind of talent to Dummynech and it's an accomplishment for them to advance out of the group stage. It'd make more sense to predict Mexico/Uruguay/South Africa to advance ahead of France, given that those 3 teams have prepared well up to this point however given the talent France have, they should advance out of their group in spite of Dummynech's craziness.
 
Originally Posted by Carlos Tevez

Originally Posted by NjCollector

Benzema should be playing. France has messed up, even if he didn't do well in RM, that is still another player they can use in the next worldcup.
Very, very aggravated at this french team, mediocre at best.
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France dont need Benzema, what they need is a proper coach. Unfortunately for France fans, they'll have to wait until after the WC for Laurent Blanc...until then they'll watch Raymond Dummynech sabotage their WC chances. This idiot has Govou starting, Malouda as a left-sided central midfielder, Gourcuff dropping back into CM, etc etc. His squad selection is terrible and every match is a struggle for France as a result. Give any decent manager this kind of talent and they'd be legitimate WC contenders. Give this kind of talent to Dummynech and it's an accomplishment for them to advance out of the group stage. It'd make more sense to predict Mexico/Uruguay/South Africa to advance ahead of France, given that those 3 teams have prepared well up to this point however given the talent France have, they should advance out of their group in spite of Dummynech's craziness.
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Based on Anelka's performance today, I'm gonna go ahead and say Benzema would've been a huge help. Anelka is selfish and over-dribbles consistently. No guarantee that Benzema would've been on the field had he made the squad, but he would've been a huge upgrade if he was. @#($ Anelka for real. Scrub. 
 
Big update today:

WC2010 Status Report: The likelihood of progression to the knockout round for each team at the tournament


Will give you an idea of who has taken care of business thus far, and who has dug themselves a hole.

Link in the sig.
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