General Sports Discussion (Be Warned!)

[Snowdog]

Being that there is three games televised per day, I have to pick which games I'm going to catch. Here are my PVR programming for this week:

Mon: Czech Republic vs. United States
Tue: Brazil vs. Croatia
Wed: Germany vs. Poland
Thu: England vs. Trinidad & Tobago
Fri: Angola vs. Mexico
Sat: Italy vs. United States
Sun: Australia vs. Brazil

[lymphomaniac]

Originally Posted by nanashee

How about rugby? Rubgy seems pretty easy. And you don't even have to use your feet. It's a lot more entertaining to watch too.

Speaking of soccer, anyone watching the World Cup?

I wouldn't say that rugby is easy or doesn't use feet - it's probably one of the toughest team sports out there... and it's kind of hard to play without feet... :biggrin:

[lymphomaniac]

I don't know if this link was ever posted here, but I thought I'd share it anyways... it's hockey fighting brought to a whole new level...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcllO...al%20Canadiens

Warning: this will be 65 seconds of your life you'll never get back... :biggrin:

[Embrodak]

That was the most pathetic thing I have ever seen...

[lymphomaniac]

funniest was that they both got a 10 minute misconduct for their "dance" on the ice

seeing that actually reminded me of that one scene in the movie "Slapshot"...

[Eddicat]

HA! That's funny. Did a hockey game break out during the fight? (if you could call that a fight!)

Anyway, soccer is the flavour of the moment here in Australia right now. Last year our national team qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 32 years and for only the second time in history. Due to a rediculous qualifying arrangement which meant Australia had to face Uruguay after finishing as Oceana group leader, the Socceroos emerged victorious against the odds with a thrilling 4-2 result after a penalty shoot out.

Last night the Aussies produced their first ever World Cup finals victory, beating Japan 3-1 in a remarkable game that saw the socceroos claw their way out from the jaws of defeat and beat the Blue Samurai, a team ranked 24 places above them. After a dubious first goal scored by Japan in the 26th minute, the socceroos could not seem to breach the Japanese defense and convert from a barrage of crosses until a masterstroke from the manager Guus Hiddink in the second half. Substitues in Tim Cahill, Josh Kennedy and John Aloisi took the field and started to wreak havok on the tired Japanese defenders. An opportune equaliser from Cahill in the 85th minute was followed soon after in the 89th minute with his second scorching goal to put the Socceroos in front. To add icing to the cake, the mercurial John Aloisi scored in the dying seconds of the match to put the result beyond doubt and send fans at the game and in lounge rooms all over Australia into raptures over their team's dream start to the tournament.

The Socceroos now face a tough assignment in group F which also includes Brazil (world number 1) and Croatia (world number 23). If they can somehow get one more point (a draw) they might just squeeze through to the next stage and if they can play out of their skins and get two draws they will definitely progress. However, the odds are against the fledgling team on the world's biggest sporting stage but that kind of challenge seems to bring out the Ausssie fighting spirit. All I can say is GO AUSSIES!!!

[AngryIrish]

Anyone see that Big Ben Roethlisberger basically broke his face today in a motorcycle accident? No helmet.

And all I can say is....IDIOT!!!

[Magpie Manny]

If saw the match (Aussies vs Japan) I would've cheered my ars off for the socceroos. Or the skipy's (sorry, but once you got a kangeroo, it remains so )

The australians always had the will and the guts to keep on fighting. They already had some talant, but Guus Hiddink forged that into a, dar I say, a good group. That man is genius.

Snowdog:

You should watch Holland vs Ivoorkust (or ivorycoast? I have no idea what that country is called in english). If holland wins, they are trough to the next round... But if their oppents win it's going to be a close, really close group.. Stake are high oin that one... Angola is getting whoop ars anyways... (Just my 2 cents)

M_M

[Snowdog]

I wanted to watch that game, but its not televised over here. Sucks.

I'm pulling for Australia too, but not over Brazil! The Brazil Aussie game on Sunday is gonna be the best match of the entire world cup.

[lightningrod]

Since no one else has pledged their support for the hometeam yet, I'm gonna go ahead.

GO GERMANY!!!!

[tarbrush]

Boooo!!!! Go England!!!!!

[Mack]

I am not much of a soccer fan...but I am a hockey fan. What about those Canes. They are playing a great game. I see them winning the cup tomorrow on the home ice.

[Eddicat]

Originally Posted by Snowdog

I wanted to watch that game, but its not televised over here. Sucks.

I'm pulling for Australia too, but not over Brazil! The Brazil Aussie game on Sunday is gonna be the best match of the entire world cup.

The World Cup not televised! Where do you live, the moon? Do you mean not every game is televised. Either way that does suck big time.

Well, here's an update for you. There's seven minutes to go in the Croatia vs Brazil match and Brazil lead 1-0. Both these teams are in Australia's group so I don't feel like barracking for either. Maybe a 1-1 draw would be best since the Socceroos already have the 3 points.

In the other games overnight, France and Switzerland drew 0-0 and in the other match Korea Republic beat Togo 2-1.

[Magpie Manny]

Got the last one right at my interships betting stuff.. Whohoo

Anyways.. I guess he meant that holland - ivorycoast isn't broadcasted.. :S How stupid is that...
I do hope that Germany.. Deutschland, get's far in this WC. I always like the hometeams kicking it far...

Every Dutch man's dream (who's interested in soccer) Holland vs Germany in the finals.. That would be awsome... But hey.. we'll see..

[Eddicat]

Bah! Brazil won the match 1-0.

I guess it would have been nice to see Croatia even the score, they were really attacking despite playing what looked to me like a loaded defense. I didn't think much of Brazil's defense actually and I reckon Croatia were unlucky not to score as they looked threatening many times. Brazil were not all that convincing really, although Kaka's goal was a beauty. Ronaldo was pretty much ineffective and Ronaldhino didn't star as he usually does. Dare I say it the Aussies may have a chance!

Tonight (GMT+10) there are some promising games on offer with Ukraine making their World Cup debut against the highly fancied Spain. Ukraine recently played a 0-0 draw with Italy which would give them confidence although a lot may depend on their star striker Shevchenko coming up from a knee injury.

Then there is the Arabic derby between Tunisia and Saudi Arabia. I favour the Saudis with Tunisia missing their main scorer, Francileudo dos Santos through injury.

Finally, the German hosts take on their neighbors Poland but I think this will be a one sided affair since the Poles did not make an impression against Ecuador in their first game and were soundly beaten. Interestingly and perhaps ominously, the two best Polish-born strikers in the tournament are playing for Germany!