Outline · [ Standard ] · Linear+ WORLD CUP THREAD

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Germany destroyin the aussies.

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4-0

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Yeah, I tried to take an underdog in that game. That didn't work out to well for me. Podolski looked crazy good today.

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4-0 to Germany great gameof football

The Germans looked great so relaxed on the ball. I know they only played Australia but look well worth 14/1 to win it all

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Great thread Micheāl! Let's cross our fingers I'll be writing something positive in here tomorrow

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Denmark Holland will be a tight one

I see a draw or Holland by 1

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Holland v Denmark should be a cracker

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nasty tackle that

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0-0 @ THE HALF

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Did you see the striker for the Netherlands smash the camera behind the goal when he missed that one shot?

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1-0 Own goal

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http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/newsid=1...typical+germans

Germany's four-goal start to the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ has made a big impression on England's players, who may well face the three-times world champions in the second round.

"I thought it was the best performance of the tournament up to now," said Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher, who watched the Germans' 4-0 demolition of Australia on television with some of his team-mates and the England backroom staff.

It was typically German. Maybe on paper you don't expect too much from them but they're always there.Jamie Carragher, England defender
Carragher, a keen student of the game who plans to go into management when he stops playing, was particularly impressed with Mesut Oezil, the 21-year-old Werder Bremen playmaker who was at the heart of Germany's best work.

"I thought Oezil was outstanding off the front man (Miroslav) Klose," Carragher said of one of the hottest properties in European football at the moment.

England will face Germany in the second round if they finish second in their group and Joachim Loew's side top theirs. The two sides will also meet if England top group C and Germany are second in group D.

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The matches
The Netherlands-Denmark, Group E, Johannesburg (Soccer City), 13.30
Japan-Cameroon, Group E, Mangaung/Bloemfontein, 16.00
Italy-Paraguay, Group F, Cape Town, 20.30

The big game
Italy–Paraguay
The defending champions start the tournament as underdogs after a lacklustre run-in to the finals. Nevertheless, with nine veterans from Germany 2006 and a clutch of talented young pretenders to bolster their ranks, La Nazionale look as solid as ever with a backbone consisting of FIFA World Cup winners Gianluigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro, Andrea Pirlo and Alberto Gilardino. The team's laboured build-up is unlikely to trouble Marcello Lippi, who knows that the Azzurri tend to find their feet as the competition progresses.

The Tuscan-born tactician will nevertheless be wary of Paraguay, who are contesting their fourth consecutive finals with a squad which has come of age. Albirroja coach for the last three seasons, 47-year-old Argentinian Gerardo Martino has instilled some Italian-style consistency into his team, which relies on a watertight defence and lightning counter-attacks. It is no coincidence that the Paraguayans dominated in beating both Brazil and Argentina on their way to the finals.

In focus
Feyenoord v Ajax
During Denmark’s encounter against the Netherlands, Danish forwards Jon Dahl Tomasson and Dennis Rommedahl will be reunited with their respective team-mates at Feyenoord and Ajax, Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Gregory van der Wiel. The two Dutch wing-backs form part of an obdurate rearguard which conceded just two goals in eight matches during qualification. The tussle between Tomasson and Van Bronckhorst, two wily old foxes who have respectively notched up 107 and 97 caps, looks set to be particularly interesting.

What they said
"If you want to survive in football, the best strategy is to attack. Our coach is always drumming it into us, he wants to see us play offensive football," Keisuke Honda, Japan playmaker

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Donovan: Room for improvement
(FIFA.com) Sunday 13 June 2010
Getty ImagesAlthough admitting that his side are happier with the point gained in Rustenburg than their opponents England, Landon Donovan believes that USA have even more to give following their 1-1 draw with Fabio Capello's Group C favourites.

The LA Galaxy star was a thorn in the side of the Three Lions, particularly during the first half, when his right-footed deliveries, either from the flanks or from set-pieces, created several chances for his countrymen. After going behind to Steven Gerrard's early goal, Bob Bradley's side needed someone to steady the ship and get the team on the attack. In Donovan, they had just that – a player willing to pick up the ball and run at England's defence.

Somewhat self-effacingly, the 28-year-old refused to take any of the credit himself, preferring to share it among his team-mates. However, while the rest of the dressing room celebrated at holding the section's top seeds to a draw, the midfielder let slip that he was not completely happy with his own team's performance.


"We're proud of the effort we put in and getting a result against one of the best teams in the world is a very positive start," he told FIFA.com. "Our energy, desire and willingness to fight was very good, but from a technical point of view we weren't as good as we wanted things to be. It's easy for people to tell us that we should qualify for the knockout stage and this is an easy group to navigate, but we know that it's going to be difficult. We cannot afford to take Slovenia lightly and we’ve got to work on the things that didn't go as well as we'd hoped over the next few days."

USA return to their training base near Pretoria today, with five days to prepare for the match with Slovenia at Ellis Park. The Zmajecki represent an unknown quantity for the Americans, in stark contrast to England. Only four of Saturday's starting line-up – Michael Bradley, Steve Cherundolo, Ricardo Clark and Robbie Findley – had never been under contract with an English club in their careers, with Donovan himself enjoying a three-month loan spell with English Premier League side Everton earlier this year.

Perhaps as a consequence, Donovan was quick to offer words of encouragement to Capello's men who left were left frustrated by their share of the spoils. "I'm sure England will go far in this tournament," he said. "They are a talented team with a lot of talented players and when you look at their squad, they have world-class players in every position. When you consider that we came off the field a little disappointed that we didn't play a little bit better and perhaps even win the game, it shows you just how well we did."

South Africa 2010 represents Donovan's third FIFA World Cup™, following appearances at Korea/Japan and Germany respectively. However, in the midfielder's eyes, the tournament has lost none of its magic. He smiled as he said the memories of last night's game would live with him forever. "Playing at a World Cup is always great, but the experience of meeting England at the highest level is something which I don't think any of us will ever forget. There was an absolutely superb atmosphere inside the stadium. Both sets of fans were absolutely great."



http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/newsid=1...oom+improvement

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2-0 Holland Dirk Kyut with a tap in

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Kyut totally beat that defender for the Danes to the ball. I think Italy will be upset this afternoon.

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Number crunching

1 FIFA World Cup victory for Slovenia at the fourth attempt. They lost to Spain, Paraguay and South Africa in the 2002 edition.


80 per cent of his appearances in FIFA World Cup matches have seen Miroslav Klose substituted - 12 times in 15 matches.

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Kyut totally beat that defender for the Danes to the ball. I think Italy will be upset this afternoon.

I'll be in work for this evenins Italy game

get the 1st half of Japan before I go to work


Japan will get a beat down 3-0 to Cameroon

Italy paraguay 2-2 draw

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GAME OVER

Holland 2 0 Denmark

The Danes dissapointed me

[Tromni]

Seems like every De Jong tackle deserves a straight red card. Studs up and two footed all match long. I don't think there's anyone in football that I respect less.

I've got Paraguay to beat Italy. Give us the first real shocker of the tournament.