[quote:b2339ed267="TheJackal"]I wasn't really surprised that France beat Brazil because Brazil never played that well in their other games. They even went behind to South Korea, although they woke up after the goal & won convincingly enough that day. When Brazil finally met a qulity team, the french showed up their weaknesses and deservedly won.[/quote:b2339ed267] France have played worse than Brazil in this tournament, with the exception of the game against Brazil (reportedly - I missed that game) and periods of the game with Spain. Brazil didn't play South Korea, they went a goal down to Japan, then scored 4 goals in response. A team can't score four goals without playing well. France [b:b2339ed267]did[/b:b2339ed267] play South Korea, went a goal up and then conceded an equaliser and failed to respond. Over the entire tournament, Brazil have played better. On the day, France played better, so deserved their win in that game. Anyway, I didn't just post here to prove Jackal wrong , I also came to share a hilarious interpretation of the offside law for women: [quote:b2339ed267]You're in a shoe shop, second in the queue for the till. Behind the shop assistant on the till is a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes which you have just seen and HAVE to have. The female shopper in front of you has seen them also and is eyeing them with desire. Dilemma: Both of you have forgotten your purses. It would be totally rude to push in front of the first woman if you had no money to pay for the shoes. The shop assistant remains at the till waiting. Your friend is trying on another pair of shoes at the back of the shop and sees your dilemma. She prepares to throw (pass) her purse to you. If she does so, you can catch the purse, then walk round the other shopper and buy the shoes. At a pinch she could throw the purse ahead of the other shopper and, *whilst it is in flight* you could nip around the other shopper, catch the purse and buy the shoes. However, until the purse had *actually been thrown* you are not allowed to move in front of the other shopper - otherwise you would be 'Offside'.[/quote:b2339ed267] (taken from www.wwst.org)
Ah, now I had got a French translation of this which made absolutely no sense whatsoever, no matter how you turned it round. In English, it does actually make sense. Except I can't of course understand, as I hate shopping for shoes, I never leave my bag unattended or even worse in the hands of a friend in a shoe shop (which I wouldn't have gone into in the first place) and the kind of shoes I really like to look at I would never buy because they would work hell on my poor flat feet, even if I [i:4d041e7ca0]could [/i:4d041e7ca0]get my size nine pinkies into them. But then I did know the offside law before that, so what the hell. And I don't even [b:4d041e7ca0]like [/b:4d041e7ca0]football !
Another crap match today with France beating Portugal 1-0. Scolari, the portugeese manager, lost his first ever world cup game. His record is now 12 wins, 1 loss because he won the world cup with Brazil before. It was funny watching him give out to the ref after the match for the penalty France got & scored in the first half. It was a clear foul!
[quote:b8227013d0="drunkymonkey"]I can't believe Germany is out; I was convinced that they would make it to the final.[/quote:b8227013d0] They did manage to hold the Italians off till the last 5 minutes of the second over time, though.
[quote:510523d2e4="QuothTheRaven"] They did manage to hold the Italians off till the last 5 minutes of the second over time, though.[/quote:510523d2e4] It was even worse than that: They scored in the 119th and 121st minutes. But the second goal was only conceded because Germany had to send all their men forward for a final attack.
Well, defeat is defeat, so 0-1 or 0-2 doesn't matter anymore... I too would have taken the chance to score. But ultimately, the Italians had extra condition for three minutes longer. Some of the Germans stood there totally hypnotized and drenched by the heat, can't be blamed... If those men weren't earning so filthily much money with it all, amnesty international would have said a word about forcing a bunch of men, some of them barely legal age, sprinting around in that heat for 120 minutes. Well, its a young team, and Klinsmann has been trying things with them that have never before been tried in German football. He's proved he's going into the right direction, and that he's made something that can be built upon. Above all, German football was fun to lokk at again. It's also satisfying that they actually got so far, because the yellow press and their slaves in the football clubs were driving such a dirty campaign against Klinsmann, mainly because he wouldn't give the Bild extra treatment after having made bad experiences with them in his time as a national player. Now that he's popular, they're sucking up to him, but you should have red what they wrote in March... It was nice to see people still celebrating on the streets, at least the majority, even if it was quieter than it was the nights before. (We live in the quarter were all the public viewings take place in this city. It was not always a nice experience to be run over by 5000 drunk people at least twice a week.) It was also nice to see the team still get a round of applause after they lost against Italy.
[quote:18c638fb3b="Hsing"]It was nice to see people still celebrating on the streets, at least the majority, even if it was quieter than it was the nights before. (We live in the quarter were all the public viewings take place in this city. It was not always a nice experience to be run over by 5000 drunk people at least twice a week.) It was also nice to see the team still get a round of applause after they lost against Italy.[/quote:18c638fb3b] I know exactly how they feel, not through England but through Wycombe this year. We lost our play-off game, but despite the defeat, I and every fan at that game felt incredibly proud of the team. We stayed behind for ages, applauding and chanting, we were still there after all the supporters of the winning team had left. It was a weird feeling, disappointment but great pride. After england's loss, there was a small amount of pride, but mainly it was disappointment. I felt a bit hollow and my heart sank slightly. After the Wycombe game, my heart actually rose slightly. I've no idea why this happens. It has been said thousands of times before, but it remains true: It's a funny old game.
Who do you want to win the world cup on sunday? I'd prefer Italy to win as they have been better than France overall in the tornament & France were lucky to beat Italy in the final of Euro 2000: They equalised in the 94th minute & then won in extra time with a golden goal.
I'd love to see Italy storm home with a performance like their game against Germany, but I've a horrible feeling the pressure will get to them and France's sudden rediscovery of their form plus the experienced veterans that comprise so much of the team will give them the cup.
I think it would be a great last coup in some of the French veteran's careers to get the World Cup on sunday; I know it's more Zidane against Italy than anything else... but I think I root for the French this time. Seeing my original second favourite Ghana is long out of the WC.
France don't score too many goals per game & rely on their defence. Italy are quite similar but do tend to score more when they're in the mood! So this one could be a 0-0 draw after 90 minutes unless the forwards are on form.
Glad the Italians won, especially after Zidane managed to sour his entire career with recklessness. Good to see Barthez beaten 5 times, I've never really liked him after some of his antics at Man Utd. But overall I've warmed to Italy's play more than France's, so I was happy after Grosso scored. As for the match, I thought it was pretty meh, both teams attacked without really creating much. The Italians dominated the first half, French the second and the French probably just shaded extra-time. So possibly deserved the win, but then came Zidane's idiocy which ruined both his and his team's performance. I also laughed a lot at the presentation, the Italians hijacked it from the dignataries, always good to see the attention deflected away from them
As much as I was for France to start with, I feel that mostly the whole country, including the team, just switched off after Zidane went from national hero to national embarassment. I really don't understand what happened there, it was the last match of his whole career, not many minutes from the end, why crack up just then ? Oh well, we'll see what he has to say about it, but I really felt that after he was sent off, his teammates just didn't want to play any more, so Italy really did deserve to win...
The final was a good match, with both sides attacking a lot & defending well. France's penalty was a dive. Zidane's sending off was a stupid move on his part but he didn't cost them the match in my opinion. Glad Italy won in the end, though I didn't really care who would win the shoot-out at the end.
[quote:bf189b9f73="redneck"]So what did Zidane do? I didn't get to see a single cup match at all. I'm pissed.[/quote:bf189b9f73] With about 5 minutes left in extra time, 1 of the Italian players (Materazzi) provoked him verbally (it's also alledged he pinched Zidane's nipple!). So Zidane turned around and headbutted him in the chest. Took the linesman ages to tell the ref what happened & Zidane was finally sent off. It was a pity because he was perhaps man of the match & would have taken a penalty in the shootout.
[quote:d55dd17b5e="redneck"]So what did Zidane do? I didn't get to see a single cup match at all. I'm pissed.[/quote:d55dd17b5e] YOu didn't even need ESPN 12 or whatever for the final match. It was on ABC. And that Zidane fellow certainly did choose an ugly way to end his career.
[quote:de02a8230a="redneck"]So what did Zidane do? I didn't get to see a single cup match at all. I'm pissed.[/quote:de02a8230a] Any one of these videos should show you.
[quote:6334cabe58="Electric_Man"][quote:6334cabe58="redneck"]So what did Zidane do? I didn't get to see a single cup match at all. I'm pissed.[/quote:6334cabe58] Any one of these videos should show you.[/quote:6334cabe58] Yep, we're still waiting for an official version of it, but it was also the fact that that was the last thing he will have done on a football pitch, that was the last match he will ever play and such a stupid way to end it... As I said, he is/was something iof a national hero here, kids look up to him, he's always appeared as a shy, talented player, and to end his career on that note was quite a blow to the myth.
It could always be labeled in the Guiness Book of Records as "The World's Biggest Brain Fart". I'm pretty sure that covers all the bases and is an apt description.
Oh well, official interview yesterday evening... He said that Materazzi repeatedly insulted his mother and sister (his mother is currently very ill and in hospital, which doesn't help) and this is probably the worst insult ever for what the French call "people with a mediterranean personality" (i.e. Spain, South West France, Italy, Greece, North Africa. Zidane is from Marseille, and comes from a Kabile family...) He apologized but said he couldn't regret it because that would mean that the italian was right to say what he said... He also talked a lot about the kids who take him and other players as role models, and that in no way was this gesture something to look up to... Oh well, maybe now people will just get over it and find something else to talk about... This isn't the first time a player has responded violently to provocation, and not the first time Zidane has been sent off the pitch for a "mauvais geste" (bad gesture/action) it's sad that it was the finishing point of what was globally a beautiful career, but it's done and can't be undone.
The hard core will never get over it... It will probably even be included on those FIFA world cup history docos they produce... It is immortalised, it will never die. I'll shut up now because I'm scaring myself.
Well, there's already a single being released calles "coup d'boule" (headbutt) about it, and lord knows how many flash games of italian headbutting simulation, plus of course all the comics about what Materazzi said to him...
