The Official 2006 FIFA World Cup thread. (2 Viewers)

[king_of_boredom]

what?! first match is scheduled for the 9th of june, just around the corner! (5 days after my 18th birthday, mind you). heres a thread devoted completely to this year's world cup in Germany.

the official website ladies and gents:

http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/index.html

on recent news, this has gotta hurt.

hopefully schwarzer will be back to play for australia on the opening matches of the world cup.

i'm pretty confident australia will do well within our group, although theres no doubts brazil will finish on top.

also, will we be getting live coverage on any of the matches from this world cup? (at least our matches?)

 

[acmilan]

Im pretty sure sbs has rights to all the matches this time. They obviously cant show them all as some are played at the same time (that was the advantage of two channels having rights to show it), but yeah, the coverage will still be there.

 

[tempco]

I'm rooting for Japan in Group F. In the overall tournament, England.

 

[gordo]

Vamos Argentina! I want to buy a socceroo jersey, but $130 means ill have to wait a few weeks until I can.

i got a replica off ebay for $20

 

[acmilan]

When do they actually announce the teams? I'd have thought it would be very soon (if not already) since theres just over 1.5 months left.

 

[DRAGONZ]

Im pretty sure sbs has rights to all the matches this time. They obviously cant show them all as some are played at the same time (that was the advantage of two channels having rights to show it), but yeah, the coverage will still be there.

Korea/Japan '02 managed to do it alright. In Australia, there were matches at 4.30pm, 7.30pm, 10.30pm.

That would be so cool .. matches on every night from 10.30pm - 6.30am or something!

I would totally be up for that

 

[BronwynKate]

I think Brazil or France will win.

Or the USA.

I hope we get beyond group stage.

Mind you, I don't know a whole lot about soccer but I'm more than happy to follow the World Cup and general Socceroos action.

 

[BronwynKate]

It's 2 hours closer (than Britain/UTC), so ...

It will be about 7 hours behind us.

Which isn't so bad!

 

[acmilan]

The earliest games start at 3pm in germany. Given we're 8 hours ahead, the earliest game on our screens will hit at 11pm. The latest would start at 5am. The rest are in between there. Heh, lucky theres no uni on during the world cup, so i can stay up and just sleep when the games are over.

Italian coach said he's releasing the team May 15th, so i guess around there most teams will be announcing them.

 

[acmilan]

For once you cant say their defence will be their strong point.

 

[acmilan]

These are the players that were in the team in their 4-1 win over Germany last month. I dare say the players in bold are pretty much certain to be picked.

Gianluigi Buffon
Cristian Zaccardo
Fabio Grosso
Daniele De Rossi
Fabio Cannavaro
Luca Toni
Marco Materazzi
Manuel Pasqual
Simone Barone
Simone Perrotta
Vincenzo Iaquinta
Marco Amelia
Alessandro Nesta
Mauro German Camoranesi
Andrea Pirlo
Alessandro Del Piero
Alberto Gilardino
Massimo Oddo
Andrea Barzagli
Aimo Diana
Christian Vieri
Morgan De Sanctis

 

[acmilan]

With Lippi as coach, yeah i'd say he's pretty certain. He's been pretty good though in the last year or so, definitely still a great player and could do damage.

 

[DRAGONZ]

Del Piero? Really? He's nearly 32 - a bit old... I remember seeing him at the 98 world cup - hes that old.

I remember seeing Ronaldo at the '98 World Cup - he's THAT old

I remember seeing Beckham .. and, in fact, a bunch of English players .. at the '98 World Cup.

Hehe.

Del Piero is still one of Italy's best players, he deserves his spot.

Hell, England should just include Teddy in their squad! 40 and getting better by the month!

 

[acmilan]

Bring back Baggio!

 

[DRAGONZ]

I wanna see Maradona live.

He deserves his spot.

 

[LMF^^]

I think only Beckham, Neville and Owen are the survivin memberz of the '98 squad, quite a bunch.

USA winnin the World Cup...? The war in Iraq will end befo that happenz.

 

[matt#1]

USA winnin the World Cup...? The war in Iraq will end befo that happenz.

lol! I totally agree with that. In my opinion, there are a number of teams that have the talent to win the competition...but Brazil have to be favourites. With players like Kaka, Adriano, Ronaldo, Robinho, Juninho and of course, Ronaldinho...they will be able to score goals at will.

I hope that Australia can progress at least through to the 2nd round...but i'm realistic about our chances. If the Aussies get knocked out... I will be supporting England. With players like Owen, Rooney, Becks, Lampard, Gerrard, Joe Cole, Ferdinand, Terry, etc...they have the talent to win it. I think that the dark horse side will be Portugal.

 

[copious]

I think the Dark horse this time around will be the USA. They are a technically sound team, with some nice talent. I havnt been following them recently , but is there any chance Freddy Adu making the squad?

I'm confident we (Aussies) can make it through the 2nd round. Though I'm not too sure about our chances against Brazil, their midfield and strike force is a nightmare for any defense. I'm a bit concerned when someone like Robinho is gonna be running at Tony Vidmar :s

 

[LMF^^]

Nah, Mexico have a much better squad than the US atm, Adu won't be in the squad, hez only 16 and have been performin shit at international level. Therez so much hype surroundin the England team I really wanna see em play now, they're definitely the best England team in my generation so far.

Teamz to foget: Saudi Arabia, Angola, Togo. Maybe Iran too, and Trinidad and Tobago.

 

[...]

England!!!

Rooney + Gerrard + Lampard + J.Cole == win

though i am not a fan of argentina, i do admit they have a really strong squad
messi + riquelme + Tevez(off the bench most likely) is a devestating attacking formation