World Cup 2010

[Prezbucky]

The World Cup is coming soon.

- Which is your favorite team?
- Which team will win the Cup?
- Will you watch the games?

My favorite teams are the USA and Italia.

I think the winner will probably be either Brazil or Spain though, really, there are several other teams that can win it. (Arg, Ita, Eng, Ned, Ger, etc.)

And I'll watch every game I can. This will depend largely on how busy I am at work. hehe

These are the players I think should be in Italy's starting XI:

Goalie: Buffon
Right Back: Maggio
Central Defender: Cannavaro
Central Defender: Chiellini
Left Back: Criscito
Right Mid: Montolivo
Defensive Central Mid: DeRossi
Left Mid: Marchisio
Attacking Central Mid: Pirlo
Forward: Pazzini
Forward: DiNatale
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Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee.

[Tomasito]

I'll support the weakest teams. However, my favourite team is England. But I don't think they'll take the troophy. My bet goes to Brazil. I won't have the oportunity to watch some of the games, I'll be at work at the time. Italy is no longer a strong team. my top 5 is: Brazil, Spain, Holland, Portugal and Ghana.
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Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.
- Will Durant

[Boke]

I like supporting the underdogs too, unfortunately my country's team (America) is always the underdogs.
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福山市　英会話 goodwin

[Nistelrooy86]

cant wait for it ~~~~~~~~

[Prezbucky]

Tomasito, Italy wasn't looking that great going into the last WC either. The Azzurri will come to play!

:-)
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Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee.

[Political Lurker]

I hope the French don't win it - since "the Frogs" cheated Ireland out of the finals....... :-( sob sob!!

C'mon Ralf!! givus a hand - its us against them mate!!

To add insult to injury - France will probably end up winning it!!

France Cheats Its Way Past Heroic Ireland To South Africa
by Willie Gannon
France cheated their way to South Africa tonight after Ireland succumbed to a travesty of justice as Thierry Henry handled the ball twice in the build up to William Gallas' winning goal.

It was an outrageous way to win the match after Ireland had taken the game to their "mighty" opponents and put in the kind of performance that the players will remember for years.

Going into the game all eyes were on Paris as Irish fans descended on the city in their thousands. The French Football Federation only supplied the FAI with 8,000 tickets but almost 20,000 fans defied the recession to support the boys in green.

Ireland were expected to play the game as tight as possible but they caught Raymond Domenech and the French team off guard as they tore into their illustrious opponents right from the start.

The manner of the Irish performance was a joy to see. Giovani Trappatoni seemed to have encouraged his side to be as adventurous as possible and their ambition was there for all to see.

Ireland's midfield was immense, with Damien Duff and Liam Lawrence standing out as they inflicted their game upon the French and Patrice Evra and Sagna in particular.

All the omens were against Ireland going into this match. The Irish had not beaten a team seeded higher than them away from home since 1987, under Domenech France had only ever lost one on home soil, and no team to ever take the lead in an away leg had ever lost a UEFA playoff.

But Ireland have never lost when Robbie Keane scored.

And score he did.

The Tallaght man was immense all night, his work-rate was phenomenal, his touch exquisite, and his radar for goal on full alert.

If you had just turned the match on you would have been forgiven for thinking that it was the French who were dictating play, such was Ireland's dominance.

And their goal was a thing of beauty.

Having gone close through Doyle and Keane in the minutes leading into the opening strike. Ireland twisted the knife and cut the French defence apart as they moved the ball from one side of the pitch to the other before Damien Duff raced onto Kilbane's perfectly weighted through ball. The boy from Ballyboden then picked out Tottenham Hotspur's Keane, who had pulled out to the penalty spot, and he twisted his body to suit the path of the ball and simply passed it past the superb Lloris to give Ireland a well deserved lead.

Ireland continued their dominance until half time, and it was just one of those days when France were literally saved by the bell.

France were expected to come out and take the game to the superior Irish, but again Ireland were the better side.

Time after time they cut France apart, and Shay Given was a forelorn figure in the Irish goal as none of the much celebrated French strikers troubled him at all.

Liam Lawrence was the chief architect for Ireland's best chances in the second half, as his beautiful through ball found Damien Duff clear on goal with on Lloris to beat.

The young Lyon 'keeper spread himself well to block Duff's effort, but the Fulham wingers strike was straight at his foil and barely tested him.

Minutes later, Lawrence wriggled his way past two defenders before prodding the ball to Keane who skipped past Gallas and into a one-on-one with Lloris. He sold him a beautiful dummy to leave the goal open, but his initial touch was too heavy and the ball ran agonizingly wide as the Spurs man held his head in wonder.

The misses were to prove costly as the game moved into extra time. The Irish, beginning to wilt after their phenomenal effort made a couple of changes to spice thing up, but their bench is their Achilles heel, and without the likes of Steven Reid, Andy Reid, Stephen Ireland, Chris McCann, Stephen Kelly, and Steve Finnan, Ireland were always going to struggle as their team got pushed to it's limit.

Even still, the French failed to make any chances of note and Thierry Henry was only a peripheral figure as the game moved towards extra time.

With Ireland tiring, France gained more possession, but heroic defending from the men in green denied them time and space, and whoever scored the next goal would almost certainly win the game.

The knockout blow came from a set-piece that Ireland failed to deal with, but on closer examination, the goal should never have been allowed.

Martin Hansson had a very good game and made right decisions throughout the night, most notably Nicolas Anelka's dive when moving past Given.

But he and his assistants made grave errors as France had two men in an offside position as the free kick was taken, then Richard Dunne was pulled over as he attempted to clear the ball, and then Thierry Henry handled the ball twice to keep in it play and then picked out Gallas on the line to head home France's winner.

It was the cruelest of blows for the heroic Irish, as France had barely threatened the Irish goal all evening. To lose to blatant cheating from one of the games great players is one thing but for the referee to miss key decisions in the build up to the goal is unforgivable.

Liam Brady, Ireland's assistant manager, ahd called for stern refereeing in the playoffs after UEFA President, Michel Platini, had decided to seed the playoffs to aid the higher seeded teams progress to South Africa.

It is a bitter pill for Ireland to swallow. When a player of Thierry Henry's calibre cheats to win, it leaves a stain on the game.

And now UEFA and FIFA will most probably do their best to sweep this ugly incident under the carpet.

Kevin Doyle spoke magnanimously about Henry after the match, saying that "any player would probably do the same. It's a natural instinct. But for the referee to miss it, and for the linesman not to call it after he had a clear view...well...."

The incident will further the calls for video evidence, but it is hard to see Michel Platini backing away from his extra two referee experiment which is due to start next season.

Marco Tardelli said the game had "diminished" after Henry's foul.

And he does have a point.

Diving and cheating have the ability to ruin the game, and it is hard to imagine the likes of an elite sportsman in any other code cheating to win.

Tiger Woods has owned up to fouls when he could take advantage of a situation, as has Roger Federer.

Henry is in that league of sportsman, and tonight he will hold his head in shame.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/293210-france-cheat-their-way-past-heroic-ireland-to-south-africa
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Any day you wake up on "the right side of the dirt" is a good day.

[Moris.green]

My bet will be Italy . Italy’s first pre-World Cup training camp will take place this week at La Borghesiana in Rome. A squad of 29 has been selected by Head Coach Marcello Lippi, with several notable exclusions.Since April much suggestion and speculation has surrounded the Juventus forward Amauri and his possible inclusion in Lippi’s party for South Africa. The Brazilian-born 29-year-old has recently received Italian citizenship and expressed his desire to play for the Azzurri, stating that it would make him the “happiest man in the world”. The Old Lady’s number 11, however, has been in awful form recently and has found the net only five times in Serie A this season, the same number of times he has found his way into the referee’s notebook. A further two goals in European competition, not to mention a league sending off, means that any chance of his World Cup dream coming true has been undermined by form and indiscipline.

Amauri faces a race against time to have any chance of sneaking through the back door to South Africa. On 11th May Lippi must announce a provisional squad of 30 players, who, barring any replacements for injury, will make up the player pool for which the final squad of 23 will be chosen a week later. By 18th May the Head Coach is also permitted to select four replacement players, should the need arise. Many names have and will continue to be touted as squad players and much will depend on whether Lippi takes two players for every position or overcompensates in certain areas. Lippi’s options in attack make it relatively unlikely for Amauri to be included in the main squad or amongst the four in reserve.

Several other names have also been left out of the current 29. Players from Inter and Roma have not been included due to their participation in the Coppa Italia final on Wednesday evening. Likewise, Giuseppe Rossi’s commitments to Spanish club, Villarreal, also means he is not eligible. Another Italian plying his trade outside of Serie A, Liverpool’s Alberto Aquilani, has probably contributed too little too late in his quest for inclusion, with just one Premier League fixture remaining for Il Principino. Perhaps the most surprising exclusion is that of Palermo captain, Fabrizio Miccoli, who has been in excellent form in recent weeks. Also in good form is Antonio Cassano, but the Sampdoria attacker has long been out of favour with the Italian hierarchy, while Mario Balotelli’s volatile temperament and resulting lack of minutes for Inter are likely to see him miss out altogether. It displays the strength of Italy’s attacking options that such big names can be left out, in possible addition to that of Roma talisman Francesco Totti.

The following weeks will offer much excitement as the build up to South Africa for the world champions intensifies.

The 29 man squad to train at La Borghesiana this week:

Goalkeepers:

Buffon, Marchetti, De Sanctis, Sirigu

Defenders:

Zambrotta, Cannavaro, Cassani, Chiellini, Criscito, Legrottaglie, Maggio, Bocchetti, Bonucci, Grosso

Midfielders:

Pirlo, Camoranesi, Candreva, Cossu, Gattuso, Marchisio, Montolivo, Pepe, Palombo

Forwards:

Gilardino, Borriello, Di Natale, Quagliarella, Pazzini, Iaquinta

SOURCE:- footballitaliano.co.uK

[Infin1ty]

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Please feel free to correct me if you find any mistakes in my posts.

[Tomasito]

The waiting is over.
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Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.
- Will Durant

[Alan]

Hi Tomasito,

You say:

[Foah]

Hey Infinity,

at least, the Chinese do celebrate a soccer WM on low cost. Just some chips and beer and feet on the couch desk aren´t very expensive.

Michael
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"Ho ho!" said the clown

[Infin1ty]

Hi Michael,

[Tomasito]

Hi Alan!
I wanted to say that we don't need to wait anymore, because what we were waiting for has come. The World Cup.
Thanks
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Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.
- Will Durant

[Torsten]

The Germans use this funny term when they sit around a TV screen in a pub watching a football match together: Public viewing. I think the Americans and British use it describe a funeral. Maybe it's just German humour ;-)...

TOEIC listening, question-response: Wouldn't you rather telecommute?

[Political Lurker]

Please elaborate Torsten?

Actually - I reckon Germany is in a good position - they are basically outsiders(16-1 etc) - so there's less pressure on them and they are relatively unknown as a team.

I honestly think Germany could be the "dark horses" of the tournament.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dark+horse
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Any day you wake up on "the right side of the dirt" is a good day.