Football Thread

[jonah]

I thought Crouch did OK in the first half; his touch was pretty good, not only in the air but also on the ground. He's the type of player who needs the ball to be played into him, and in the 2nd half England retreated so far that he just didn't get the service.
When Beckham got harshly sent off I would've taken both Crouch and Owen off, put King on in the holding midfield position (which Eriksson) did, but also put Bent on up front. He's played the lone role upfront very successfully this season for Charlton, and his pace on the break would've given the Austrians something to think about.
All that said, and I know the result was the all important thing, but I was totally uninspired by England today. Personally I hope the Dutch lose tonight so automatic qualification will be in our own hands on Wednesday; we always seem to play better when its 'do or die'. And even if we don't qualify automatically and get knocked out of the play-offs at least there'll be a silver lining - Eriksson will f**k off early.

 

[barmyarmy]

Holland 2-0 up at HT.

 

[Sureshot]

England are going to Germany despite a shambles at OT.

Ref was poor tonight.

 

[sachin]

Well done England!Pity i can't watch these matches,i think we are getting the
Chile v Columbia match.That will prolly tell us who we are playing.Go Chile!

 

[ZexyZahid]

I didn't even know who Crouch was when I saw him in the field. Obviously he plays for Charlton. And England really didn't deserve to win that match. And I missed the Beckham yellow cards.

Personally I didn't like it when England was handed a penalty. Although the defender held an English player in his arm, still it was a light incident. Just as the same as the Czech Republic got a penalty. Van der Sar saved it and then a minute later a great finish by Van der Vaart. When Opdam scored the goal I thought the goal was disallowed because of a free kick; also the commentators. But there was nothing said the commentators, which was confirmed with the replay. But I do hope Czech Republic qualifies for Germany 2006. They were missing a lot of players (including Nedved who possibly would have come back from retirement for this match).

Here is a list of who are going to Germany 2006: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/4208308.stm

Croatia won their match against Sweden, so they are at least one of the two second bests. Italy, Portugal, Paraguay, Ecuador, Costa Rica also qualified. Big surprises came from Africa. Four debutants: Angola, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Togo. The biggest surprise of them is Cameroon. They missed a penalty in the 95th minute.

 

[Skater]

Crouch plays for Liverpool.

 

[ZexyZahid]

Sorry, I misread. I read Jonahs post too quick.

 

[Stephen Bailey]

Personally I didn't like it when England was handed a penalty. Although the defender held an English player in his arm, still it was a light incident.

But the penalty appeal later was definitely a pen. so it evens out.

 

[Sureshot]

Well the penalty we got was a penalty, physically it's different but technically it's the same as mistiming a tackle in the box, Owen was severely impeded.

 

[ZexyZahid]

I agree that technically it was a penalty. But you people do know that in the Premier League there wouldn't a big chance that penalty would have been given. And there wasn't need for any yellow card against Beckham as I see it. The first one I didn't see good, because it turned away after some seconds, but second yellow wasn't needed. The player just dived.

Is Eriksson serious about this? England has just struggled with Austria (before the Beckham dismissal also) and he says this.

Eriksson eyes World Cup triumph
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/4323808.stm

For me the favourites are Argentina, Brazil, Netherlands and the Czech Republic. Maybe Italy too, but not Spain. They always somehow fail.

 

[JamesyJames3]

I agree that technically it was a penalty. But you people do know that in the Premier League there wouldn't a big chance that penalty would have been given.

Is Eriksson serious about this? England has just struggled with Austria (before the Beckham dismissal also) and he says this.

Eriksson eyes World Cup triumph
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/4323808.stm

For me the favourites are Argentina, Brazil, Netherlands and the Czech Republic. Maybe Italy too, but not Spain. They always somehow fail.

The only teams better than england on paper are Brazil and Argentina. So yes, he is deadly serious. Dont be fooled, if england play to their potential, they can win the world cup.

 

[ZexyZahid]

Well so far the past 15 years I've been following England has always thought about that. They have great individuals, but as a team they narrowly miss it out. But it's always a pleasure to watch them. Even I like to watch them.

And I forget to add France there. When they became World Champions they almost didn't make it to the World Cup. They beat Iceland then in the dying minutes and then we all know what happened. France still has yet to qualify though, but I expect them to be there. They have to beat Cyprus for that.

 

[Sureshot]

I agree that technically it was a penalty. But you people do know that in the Premier League there wouldn't a big chance that penalty would have been given. And there wasn't need for any yellow card against Beckham as I see it. The first one I didn't see good, because it turned away after some seconds, but second yellow wasn't needed. The player just dived.

Is Eriksson serious about this? England has just struggled with Austria (before the Beckham dismissal also) and he says this.

Eriksson eyes World Cup triumph
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/4323808.stm

For me the favourites are Argentina, Brazil, Netherlands and the Czech Republic. Maybe Italy too, but not Spain. They always somehow fail.

At least the players know he has confidence in them.

 

[ZexyZahid]

Actually you're right. When a coach doesn't think his team can reach the ultimate goal, it isn't much inspiriation for the players.

Although it's just Poland I hope to see a good display of England against them.

 

[sachin]

We won 5-0 against Jamaica.Hopefully that puts us in good stead to face the fifth South American team.We were missing Kewell and Cahill too.