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OK, lets pick the Semis. Must give detailed reason why, or pick will not be accepted -

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=373152&root=worldcup&cc=5901&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1

Germany will beat beat Italy for two reasons:
1. Klose (so so dangerous in the air)
2. the home crowd (seemed to tip the momentum in the PKs against argentina)
Germany has looked much stronger to me throughout the tournament, they have so many weapons in ballack, klose, Lahm, and schweinsteiger that they will not lose. all they have to do is shut down Luca Toni.
GERMANY 2-0 ITALY

France may have momentum from there win over brazil but it will not be enough to take down portugal, they are just too good. France plays very inconsistantly and play very weak during some points in every game throughout the tournament. Portugals pace overall as a team and individual skill seem to be higher than France and that is why i am going to pick portugal.
PORTUGAL 3-1 FRANCE

Germany and France advance.

I like Germany for all the reasons mentioned above. Italy has done well only allowing one goal(own goal) this WC..but Germany has many more quality weapons than any other team Italy has faced. With the homefield advantage.. I think Germany wins a close one.

If Zidane plays anywhere close to the way he did against Brazil.. Portugal doesn't stand a chance. I haven't been impressed at all by Portugal.. for a team with a lot of individual talent and finesse..their play has been pretty ugly. This is France's game to lose.

france and italy period

Germany beats Italy 2-1
1.Best opponent Italy has faced, too many offensive weapons.
2.Very confident after the win vs. Argentina.

France beats Portugal 1-0
1.Defence will shut down individual ability of Ronaldo and Deco, just like the Brazil match.
2.Also very confident after Brazil game.

Italy 2-0 (OT) Germany

Unbelievable last 15 minutes (2nd OT period) -- end-to-end soccer! Great result for the Italians although I had been pulling for Germany.

What a scene at the Circus Maximus in Rome after the first goal! I'd love to be there tonight!!!

Allez France!!!

I'm just absolutely sick for the Germans right now.. just..wow.

If the Final is Italy/Portugal ..they might as well install spring boards infront of each goal..and declare an automatic 30min of stoppage time.

What a game..

Ya gotta love soccer to appreciate this kinda game. Wonderful, intense game! Great defenses by both teams throughout the contest. Each team would attack and penetrate, yet fabulous defensive challenges would shut down scoring chances. But, even with the spectacular defenses by both teams, there were some exciting near misses on goal, until the 2 skillful finishes at the end by Italy.

Would like to see a Portugal/Italy final because I can foresee France playing a boring kick-it-around game v. the quicker Italians. But if France plays like they did against Brazil, that could be a good final as well.
Portugal will probably take this one, because France cannot afford to be as aggressive as they were with Brazil. As many as 6 players will miss the final if booked v. Portugal.

Good article among many on the intensity of the game-

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1152049812380&call_pageid=968867503640&col=970081593064

L-E Dude: I'm just absolutely sick for the Germans right now.. just..wow.If the Final is Italy/Portugal ..they might as well install spring boards infront of each goal..and declare an automatic 30min of stoppage time.What a game..

Response: Quit listening to the American "experts" on ESPN and or reading English-led propaganda websites and form your own, real opinion on a Italy v Portugal final.

These two teams have played some of the best stretches of soccer, technical and tactical, in the tournament. It was Lippi who had four strikers on in OT to win and opt out of PKs, NOT Klinsmann.

Read the FIFA technical match reports instead of listening to Alexi Lalas and Julie Foudy or reading www.englishsocceropinions.com!

Of course, Portugal beat England so Americans are upset because of the who-knows-why love affair with crap English soccer. Of course, the Italy v U.S. match angered Americans
so that explains that.

The diving has been so much less in this tournament, however, sometimes a little time killing will always occur when you're trying to get a result in a WORLD CUP. Yes, the results England and Germany DID NOT get.

Beezer: I feel sorry for you.

1) The fact that you assume because I don't have any tolerance for diving/cheating.. that I'm some brainwashed fan of boring crappy soccer..that's sad.

2) I am NOT an England fan. I really don't even follow them at all..but any fool could see that when Lennon was on the pitch..they played better football. (Must I explain the difference between Beckham and Lennon?)

3) Was Australia not an exciting team to watch? Was Holland not an exciting team to watch? Was Ivory Coast not an exciting team to watch? Was France not MAGICAL to watch against Brazil? Was Germany not exciting to watch? Etc etc..

There is exciting, tactical, CLEAN football out there. I don't have to admire C. Ronaldo or Figo or Sorin or Grosso or any of those other hacks because there are plenty of guys out there..that stay on their feet and put the ball in the back of the net.

4) Now..let's have a little analysis of Italy vs Germany.. without any mention of Totti's acrobatics or any of the other phantom broken ankles that they faked to move their team out of their defensive third.

I would be a fool if I tried to pretend Italy doesn't have the best defense in the world..and that Buffon is not an astonishing keeper.. or that Portugal has some of the best individual skill there is.. or that Argentina and Spain can orchestrate combos that make your brain stop.

HOWEVER.. what I saw of Italy yesterday.. was a squad that consitantly got back on defense (which is good..and I would have my players watch that 100x over) ..but instead of hustling or moving as a team into the attack. They opted to either let 1-3 men move the ball up..maybe get the midfield into the attack if they hold it long enough.. or find a freekick somewhere..so everyone could get up into the attack.

Basically.. I didn't see a complete team. Toni minus his 2 goals against Ukraine (which weren't that great) has been a phantom the whole tourney. With some ridiculous saves from Buffon and a clear off the line here and there.. they've made it to the Final. They'll probably win it too.. if France makes it there.. I doubt they have enough left in the tank to slug it out with Italy.


I'm curious to know just what exactly YOU'RE a fan of.. that allows you to disregard all these flopping card sharks??

Italy are cheats, there's no getting away from it. It was not down to time-wasting because they did it all game long. Taking a dive when they got even the slightest contact. Rolling around holding their faces when replays showed no contact was made with the face. At one point when Lehmann came out and blocked a shot, on the replay you could see the Italian looking up to see where the ball had gone and when he saw Germany were mounting a counter he stayed down so they had to kick the ball out.
They got 2 German players carded for innocuous fouls.
Italy has good players and can play a nice game when they want to but when they do all this other stuff it just leaves a sour taste in your mouth.
Ditto for France and Portugal, because they both do the same thing. I hate to think that the winner of the World Cup will be a team that employs those tactics, but sadly that is the case with Germany out.

L-E Dude and Bazza:

Italy are cheats for the domestic scandal not for being divers. Every team in this World Cup dove, baited the referee and went beyond "FIFA fair play" because they knew the initatives sent down to the referees. FIFA is to blame for turning the sport into touch American football and card throwing.

Italy are taking enormous flack in the U.S., more then anywhere in the world, because of the match vs. U.S. Get over it!

Everyone around the world today is praising the Italians for this tournaments's performance while you two burden outdated stereotypes and hard feelings toward Italy.

Two of the World Cup's most theatrical players and divers? Rudi Voeller and, yes, Jurgan Klinsmann. Two Germans. And, if know anything about the 1990 World Cup, then you'll use the word "cheats."

How did I KNOW you would bring up Klinsmann?!?!

I also had a feeling you'd totally disregard my post.

Perhaps you just missed the part where I pointed the finger at not JUST Italy.. but also Argentina, Portugal, and Spain. Contrary to whatever stereotype you have me pegged as.. I actually watched a majority of the matches.. in all groups.. not just the inept Red, White, and Blue.

Ultimately.. I guess I'm not surprised you put the blame on FIFA.. ..the players are just playing the game.. if they can get away with it..it's okay. That would be the only rationale I could imagine that would make that kind of play acceptable.

Yet again.. I feel sorry for you.

I don't disregard your post and appreciate true soccer dialog. It's great to have. And, if you knew I'd bring up Klinsmann then you appreciate my point and must agree.

I know some diving is unwarranted but what's the difference when a foul occurs and all players run over waving their hand with the card gesture. Just as repulsive! Again, the players know FIFA's directives and push the limits with that as well.

Has Italy, and everyone else, taken dives? Yes. Italy branded cheats? Hell, no. Or, every team goes with them. And, of course, Voeller and Klinsmann.

As far as your "point" concerning Klinsmann and Voeller ..I understand what you're trying to say. But I think what this is really about is more than individuals..it's about a nation's soccer culture/mentality. Those Germans may have dove/cheated but that is not indicative of German football.


As for your "point": Has Italy, and everyone else, taken dives? Yes. Italy branded cheats? Hell, no. Or, every team goes with them.

Certainly dives and all this mess is an unfortunate part of the game now. Yes, I admit that. Every team dives or has dove at some point. There are holes in the system that allow this type of play..but you'll never convince me that it is anyone else but the player's fault for diving. I don't care how many refs you put on the field.

Having said that.. I think the countries I mentioned go a step beyond what everyone else is doing. They use dives as a game strategy ..and that is what REALLY gets me. As Bazza mentioned.. you could see the Italian look up to see who had possession after his collision with Lehmann..then he started rolling to get the ball out of play. This is just one example from a laundry list. These countries feign injury to dictate the pace and rhythm of the game. To me.. that is sorry. You're supposed to do that with your feet..

Once again.. I recognize that this is a plague upon the game..encompassing ALL nations and clubs.. but the countries mentioned are the primary offenders and innovators. So I will not celebrate their success in those tactics.

Diving, faking injury, delaying, etc. is done by all teams to a degree, and that kind of play cancels itself out anyway, over the course of a game. If it is excessive and pervasive then it should be handled by the Ref. Read these postgame quotes from the teams' players. No complaints here(when it is time to complain)about diving, faking, etc. from the Germans. I would assume that they don't complain because they know it is done by all teams, at certain times.

noticias.info/ by FIFAworldcup.com

Andrea PIRLO (ITA), Budweiser Man of the Match (ITA)
It was a fantastic game, absolutely overflowing with emotions. It was a childhood dream for me to play in a semi-final. I think that we earned our win today. We created a lot of chances, and we also definitely had the luck we needed.

Miroslav KLOSE (GER)
We are obviously incredibly disappointed. It was an even contest and both teams had their chances. Well done to the Italians. They were clever on the break and scored two lovely goals. We can still be proud of what we have achieved.

Lukas PODOLSKI (GER)
We were just two minutes away from penalties. We created the better chances over the course of the match, and in the second half, we had three absolutely clear-cut chances. I'm not making any accusations or complaints, though. That's just the way football is.

Philippe LAHM (GER)
I don't think that we played worse than Italy today. It's a bitter pill for us to swallow. We concentrated on one thing and kept our focus right until the end, except for that one attack of theirs. We definitely want to win the Third Place match though.

David ODONKOR (GER)
Of course we're disappointed and sad, because we had set our sights even higher. The Italians played well, but so did we. It's a pity that we lost the way we did in the last few minutes.

Bernd SCHNEIDER (GER)
We ended up being punished right at the death. It's really disappointing, because we only made that one mistake. I've no doubt that it'll be tough to pick ourselves up again now, but it was great, the way the crowd still cheered us on when we went one down. I don't know, it's difficult to say whether we can really be proud of ourselves.

Per MERTESACKER (GER)
We could have won today. Of course we knew that Italy would be even tougher than the teams we'd played before, but I still think that we did what we set out to do. We weren't looking beyond this match.

Christoph METZELDER (GER)
We just didn't take our chances. Everyone is really disappointed. I've already been through a similar experience before. Coming third in a World Cup would be wonderful and we're going to do all we can to win the Third Place match.

Tim BOROWSKI (GER)
We just couldn't step it up a notch, even though we gave it all we'd got up front. Italy were simply that little bit tougher than the Argentinians. At the end of the day, we just couldn't quite raise our game. We could have gone all the way.

Gianluigi BUFFON (ITA)
We wanted to reach the Final and we’ve done it. (Marcello) Lippi made sure we were really up for it. I thank my team-mates for having scored two wonderful goals. I started to think about penalties from the beginning of the second half. All our wins are down to team spirit. They say Italy reach the Final every 12 years, and we’ve done it this time as well. Now we hope to go on and win.

Alessandro DEL PIERO (ITA)
You could all see how happy I was when I scored. We were desperate to win. The quality of this team lies in the strength of the squad. I’m not thinking about Sunday yet, I’m going to enjoy this moment and reflect on what we’ve done up to now. The job isn’t finished yet though.

Fabio GROSSO (ITA)
What a feeling and it’s because of our team spirit and the work we’ve done. The match was very hard. We were already thinking about penalties when luckily I scored. I shed tears of joy, I just couldn’t believe it. The Final will be just as difficult and memorable. I dedicate the goal to my wife, son and everyone else who wants the best for me.

Gianluca ZAMBROTTA (ITA)
We’re happy, it’s what we wanted and it’s a great feeling knowing we’re in the Final. They put us under pressure but we also created lots of chances. At the end of the day, we’re a great team and deserved to win.

Luca TONI (ITA)
We played a great game even though they did put us under lots of pressure. Our team spirit brought us victory. To win in front of such a partisan crowd is something to tell your grandchildren about. We’ll concentrate on the Final now. We want to win it!

2004striker: Great point!

L-E Dude: HOWEVER.. what I saw of Italy yesterday.. was a squad that consitantly got back on defense (which is good..and I would have my players watch that 100x over) ..but instead of hustling or moving as a team into the attack. They opted to either let 1-3 men move the ball up..maybe get the midfield into the attack if they hold it long enough.. or find a freekick somewhere..so everyone could get up into the attack.

My response is simple but first to address one of my big soccer pet peeves. L-E Dude, we say field and soccer NOT pitch and football. Those words are for other sports in this country, the United States.

Italy v Germany: Not only do the above quotations, from players who played, reinforce my point of Italian quality and intentions during the match, but so does 1) the score 2) shot count on goal 3) corners and 4) possession stat and 5) the fact of Italy hitting the post and crossbar in OT as well as playing four strikers to avoid PKs .

The diving issue is, obviously, a strong opinion for you. The countries mentioned have been bad at times in soccer history but by no means were they any worse then others in this World Cup. Podalski and Klose both had numerous diving moments yesterday as well as a few of Ballack's run-in's with Gattuso. Again, outdated stereotypes are changing for better with these countries.

I would have been happy with either team winning yesterday. Germany had a great tournament and played great yesterday, but the aggressive stategy by Italy of putting more guys up front in OT to press the attack is my kinda soccer. With the world's best GK, Italy could have easily played for PKs in OT (as Germany did), but did not and its attack paid off.

To L-E Dude: Today vs. France, Portugal's antics were poor. By the far, the worst of the tournament and, to me, the first of what you mentioned.

If that's the first you're seeing of this..then you didn't watch much of group play.

I sat down to watch France/Portugal expecting the typical divefest. Which by and large..did not occur. Probably mainly because of THIS. Larindo (the nut job that reffed US/Italy and another laughable group match) called this one pretty tight.. and despite the desperation dives in the last 10 minutes he managed to handle the pressure.

We can sit here and argue the degree to which each team employs the diving tactic.. how bad.. how often.. whatever.

I think we've pretty much beat this thing to death. So..this will be the last thing I say on the issue (hopefully).

As a man.. you only take me off on a stretcher if I can't stand.. you only sub me off if I can't walk. And sure as hell better whack me really f--kin' hard to bring me down. These tactics take advantage of the "gentlemen's game" ..and has turned it into the "sissy's game" ..that doesn't sit well with me.

dudeman,
I heartily concur with your feelings about the 'theatrics of soccer'. But what can be done about it? It is obviously widely accepted internationally and you don't see it in the states. The international players don't complain about it, because all teams do it. I have never seen a card shown internationally for 'faking an injury', and only a few times for a dive. It can only be controlled by refs giving a caution for unsporting behavior. But they never will at the international level. Some posters like to 'poke fun' at the best ref in SC, Beiber. But if he was in center during an international game with 'theatrics', the cards would be shown in the first 5 mins.

From Bill Simmons at ESPN.com:

quote:

---

8. Everyone makes fun of the flopping, and it is hideous, but it's also funny as hell. These guys drop like they were gunned down by a sniper, then they roll around for 10 seconds in absolute agony, heroically hop up and limp around to "shake it off," and within 30 seconds they're running full speed again. Even Ric Flair didn't sell pain so well. More important, it's the one thing that will keep soccer from ever, ever, ever becoming a bona fide force in this country. Americans won't stomach such dishonesty. We see right through it. No way Dwyane Wade pulls that crap; we'd never allow it. OK, bad example.

---

Why I love the World Cup

To L-E Dude, I've seen every minute of all 62 matches, some top matches twice. Today's Portugal actions were, by far, the worst.

2004striker is correct. Unfortunately, it's part of the game in alot of cultures. But it is getting better.

I think if a guy stays down and needs to leave the field then his return should be delayed and controlled by the fourth official. That would control things some, however, the bottom line is we need to realize it's improving, it's the sport for now and you have a choice to watch it or not.

FIFA carded this World Cup and the Youth National Team Championships (last summer) very heavily (at least until Ivanov).

I remember watching the matches last summer.. and just amazed as refs dished out cards if a player just TOUCHED a ball after a foul was called. At first, I didn't like this.. but in retrospect..I think it's good.

FIFA is the governming body of soccer in the world. They influence ALL clubs and leagues in some way or another.

Are you saying they can't do anything to clean up the game?

Not that this will ever happen, but what would you say to FIFA reviewing tapes and anyone who flagrantly made a dive, over acted and 'flicked' a card on an opponent is given a post game red for cheating? Results would have to stand as far as the game, but blatant cheating would have a risk. Like I said, it will never happen but it might restore the cherished 'spirit of the game".

Try this:

1) Video (but the argument is referees are being undermined and questioned)

2) Assistant referees with more power

3) Players "carried off" have a delayed return that is monitored by the 4th official (5 minutes?) That would hinder some as well.

I don't agree with diving but accept it's part of the game, like it or not. It has gotten better in the last few years.

If they can suspend Frings for "punching" Cruz after Arg/Ger went final ..that is certainly not outside the realm of possibility.

Perhaps that is JUST what needs to be done.

Beezer: Finally! Something we can agree on!

Whatever it takes, to stop 'theatrical play' needs to be done. Since it is so prevalent internationally (not in MLS, college, etc.), it would have to be handled by FIFA. But hopefully they would not go overboard like they did with the ref instructions on fouls this year. This would have been a great Cup to address the 'theatrics' issue, rather than the fouls issue. One way to address the fake injuries would be to not stop play if the ball is out of the 'injured area', and not stop play until a team kicks it out on purpose or at the next normal stoppage of play. I may be mistaken, but there are probably only a certain few players who consistently play the 'theatrics' game. Those players could be warned informally by FIFA to clean it up or face disciplinary actions off the field, in addition to being watched closely by the fourth official during matches.

Sorry.. I know we made all this progress. But I just found this and had to post it. Cheers.

Secret Italian Training Session

One dive forward and now two flops backward. I guess the Italians have already started preparing for France.

Someone else sent me that Italian training thing, it is hilarious and probably used by Portugal.
One interesting anecdote I heard from a friend sums it up for me: He said he was in a cab in NY and the driver was telling him about his daughter in LA wanting to be an actress and have very expensive acting lessons. He told her "Honey if you want to learn how to act just watch those guys playing in thw World Cup!!!!

Fitting end for the Germany/Portugal match. Glad to see some goals scored and that is what an "open" game should produce.

Let's face it, 3rd or 4th place really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, so it was nice to see the 2006 World Cup end like it began with Germany/Costa Rica.

Super job by Germany for their play and especially as hosts of this event. Great job!

I have a feeling tomorrow's final will be the first team to "2" wins!